Real Estate,
Criminal,
Contracts
Apr. 26, 2024
Squatters’ fraudulent lease schemes raise legal questions and criminal liability
The law is evolving on the issue of squatters’ use of fake leases, but courts are likely to use their equitable power to prevent such deceptive behavior.
Anne Redcross Beehler
Partner, Holland & Knight LLP
Shutterstock
Earlier this year, a broker confronted squatters using a multimillion-dollar mansion in the Hollywood Hills for an adult film studio. When approached by the broker, one squatter produced a fake lease purporting to provide the squatter with the right to stay in the mansion. The squatter’s scheme of using a fake lease to procure rights to stay in the homes of Los Angeles’s elite is not new. In fact, squatters across the country have employed this strategy to confuse po...