Most Virginia homeowners assume that if someone breaks into an empty house, you call the police and they haul the person out. Sometimes it’s not that simple. Once a stranger claims they live there, the situation can flip from a crime to a civil case overnight, and the burden lands on the homeowner. These are…
You’d think owning a home in California means it’s yours to control. Then somebody moves into your vacant rental in Sacramento or your empty inherited house out in the Valley, and you find out how little leverage you have. California has some of the toughest squatter rules in the country for owners, and they catch…
You’d think owning property in Texas means you call the shots on who’s living in it. Then a stranger moves into your vacant rental, won’t leave, and you find out it’s not that simple. Texas squatter law has some twists that catch even folks who’ve owned property here for decades. The rules also changed in…
You did everything right. You bought the property, paid your taxes, and kept your insurance current. Then someone moved in while you weren’t looking, and the law somehow sided with them. It sounds impossible. In a handful of states, it’s closer than you’d think. Here’s where the rules still tilt toward the squatter, and why….
Squatters make for great headlines and worse landlord nightmares. In Pennsylvania, the rules around them are a tangle of old statutes and recent tweaks that trip up even experienced owners. The good news: the law gives you more protection than the viral stories suggest. The catch: you have to follow it exactly. Here’s what Pennsylvania…
The photo of hands grabbing a building was taken in Venice, Italy. But if a study from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science is any indication, it represents how coastal Floridians may soon be feeling. Researchers identified the top 10 U.S. cities where Gulf Coast sea levels are rising the fastest. Five Florida cities made…
You did everything right. You bought the property, paid your taxes, and kept your insurance current. Then someone moved in while you weren’t looking, and the law somehow sided with them. It sounds impossible. In a handful of states, it’s closer than you’d think. Here’s where the rules still tilt toward the squatter, and why….
There’s a recall worth your attention this week, and it lands close to home. A Listeria outbreak tied to a soft cheese has sickened people across Virginia and two neighboring states, and the people most at risk are folks over 65. Here’s what you need to know, and why it’s worth a look in your…
The numbers are in, and they point one direction. Hot. Federal forecasters expect above-normal temperatures across California from June through August. Private meteorologists put the state near the center of the worst heat in the country this summer. Here’s what that forecast means for your bills, your grid, and your safety. Above-Normal Heat Is the…
Texas is known for doing things big. Big sky, big trucks, big personalities, and apparently, big creativity when it comes to naming towns. From the quirky to the downright absurd, the Lone Star State is sprinkled with small towns and unincorporated communities whose names are hard for out-of-staters to believe are real. But one thing’s…
