As I was reading headlines the other day, I came across this odd story. Apparently, a lady bought a house in Michigan, but did not occupy it for a year. While she was away, another lady took possession of the house, changed the locks, made repairs and bought new appliances. This lady went so far as to put a lien on the house to make the repairs…a house that she did not own, rent or even have permission to enter. When the owner came home, the lady would not leave, so they are both living in the house until the owner can hire a lawyer to get her out.

http://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2012/10/homeowner-squatter-must-share-house.html

After I read this story, I was interested to see, if this was just one oddball case or is squatting a new problem associated with so many vacant homes. As it turns out, squatting is on the rise. These squatters are finding vacant homes and are just moving in. They turn on the power, change the locks and just go about all the things you do when you move into a new home. Some even generate fake paperwork in an attempt to make them look like they are legitimately allowed to live there. When they are asked to leave, they produce these fake documents and they refuse to go. Apparently to get rid of some of them banks are paying the squatter to leave as much as $3000.

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=15819672

Can you imagine coming home to find someone else living in your home? Can you believe that the squatter has rights and cannot be evicted immediately? The whole concept amazes me. What do you think?