What are squatting laws and can you fight them?

A Los Angeles woman was escorted after squatting at an Airbnb
Some states allow a squatter to take possession after five years of residence
In other states, you may wait as long as 30 years

Updated: Nov 7, 2023 / 03:12 PM EST

A protestor holds a placard which reads ‘A roof is a right’ during a ‘Faites du Logement’ event organised by the Wunnrech coalition in Luxembourg on September 23, 2023. In Luxembourg, where the Chamber of Deputies is renewed on October 8, 2023, housing is the number one issue in the electoral campaign. Rents and purchase prices are increasingly unaffordable and a factor of exclusion in this country with the reputation of a European Eldorado. (Photo by Simon Wohlfahrt / AFP) (Photo by SIMON WOHLFAHRT/AFP via Getty Images)

(NewsNation) — The recent case of police escorting a woman out of a Los Angeles Airbnb guesthouse where she squatted for a year and a half without paying rent serves to highlight the issue of squatting laws.

Squatting is generally defined as inhabiting a building or piece of land where a person doesn’t have the legal right to be there.

Unlike trespassers — who break into a piece of property through some form of illegal entry — squatters do generally have some rights. Those rights differ in each state.

In California, where the Los Angeles case occurred, someone can claim the title to a piece of property thanks to the state’s adverse possession laws. In that state, the person has to be continuously residing on a piece of property for five years to do that.

But some states, the amount of time before someone can use an adverse possession law requires someone to stay on a piece of property much longer. In New Jersey and Louisiana, it takes 30 years.

If you’re a landlord who does have a tenant who is refusing to leave, your best bet is to file a lawsuit. If a judge rules in your favor, a judge will order police to evict the tenant from your property.