Florida lawmakers are finally addressing a loophole that allowed squatters to trash property owner Patti Peeples’ residence, terrorizing her and costing her almost $40,000 in damages.

The legislation, House Bill 621 which was sponsored by Republican Florida state Rep. Kevin Steele, is a long time in coming for the Jacksonville resident but will hopefully stop squatters from moving into a home, proving to be next to impossible to evict. Many other property owners in the Sunshine State have been victims of unscrupulous individuals who don’t seem to fear the law at all.

Two women broke into Peeples’ vacant rental property and set up house. She only realized it happened after she sent a handyman to the home to make repairs prior to an inspection. She had shown the interested buyer the home just 48 hours previously. During that time, the women moved in and would not leave.

Peeples asked them to vacate her property. At that point, the nightmare really kicked in. They reportedly produced a lease from a fake landlord, aggressively asserting they had the right to stay there. Their demeanor suggested violence and Peeples knew she was in trouble, fearing for her safety.

(Video Credit: News4JAX)

The incident lasted a grueling 34 days… just long enough for the women to absolutely trash the residence. The tab for the damages came to $38,000 plus attorney fees, according to the New York Post. The squatters broke windows, smashed walls, tore cabinets off the walls, stole the washer and dryer, busted the toilets, and dumped fecal matter throughout the residence.

“These squatters know the laws better than most attorneys do, and they use them to their advantage and the police are absolutely hamstrung,” Peeples told Fox News during an interview back in April. “They know that this is a civil matter. The police have absolutely no right to remove these squatters and treat them as criminals, as individuals that have broken in or trespassed, and they simply throw up their hands and say, ‘You need to go through this civil court system and evict them.’”

“We were driving by at night, and they threw a brick at my car and damaged it, and we had the window partway down, and they threw human feces into the car,” she recounted according to the New York Post.

Peeples and her business partner eventually sold the rental house in June. She claims that the squatters cost them more than $50,000 between attorneys’ fees, lost rent, and damages.

Steele’s bill, which was filed in November, would allow police to forcibly remove squatters if they fail to pony up a notarized lease from a landowner or prove that they are paying rent on the property. In essence, it abolishes squatters’ rights in Florida.

A Florida retiree said lesbian squatters, who own up to 15 pit bulls, caused $38,000 worth of damages at her rental property after lying to police saying they paid a deposit and had been scammed by the landlord.

Thoughts??#PattiPeeples #Lovelytitv pic.twitter.com/KjWcNoTrPz

— lovelyti (@lovelyti) April 17, 2023

To Patti Peeples’ shock, two women and a dog with ten puppies were living in the home she had just renovated. After weeks of legal proceedings, the sheriff was ordered to evict the tenants, and Peeples returned to find extensive damage done, totaling almost $38K. pic.twitter.com/cz8ArHfVnV

— Inside Edition (@InsideEdition) April 19, 2023

“I pursued this bill because I saw the impact that it had on Patti and as well as others in the state,” Steele told News4Jax in an interview. “Number two, we’re putting penalties on the individuals if they provide fraudulent documentation. So. they’re gonna have criminal charges on that perspective.”

It isn’t just a Florida problem. The situation is occurring across the US and has been taking place for years. Owners find they have no legal recourse to get rid of those who have illegally moved onto their properties. Police, many times, are rendered almost useless in the situation because of laws on the books that favor the squatters.

“I think it’s a fairly big problem and I think it’s pretty hard to avoid,” Jim Burlring, who is the vice president of legal affairs for Pacific Legal Foundation, told Fox News Digital in an interview last March.

“If somebody is living in a home and saying, ‘Hey, I signed a lease, I’m paying rent, I have a right to be here,’ whether or not that’s true, the police hear that story, then they hear a story of somebody who’s not living there and saying, ‘This is my place, these people don’t belong here,’ the police officer can’t make that legal determination,” he added.

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