Law on the reform of illegal settlement in Georgia: more rights for property owners

The Reform for Illegal Occupancy Act aims to give property owners more rights to evict those who illegally occupy a home. Georgia residents facing illegal squatters are finally getting help after reform was passed in the state legislature. The goal of the Illegal Occupancy Reform Act is to give property owners more rights to evict those who have illegally occupied a home. For years, many have said that illegal squatters have more rights than those who actually own the property.

One community shared their problems with illegal squatters with 11Alive and said this reform couldn't have come at a better time. Hampton Oaks Homeowners Association president Mel Cayton said: "This is one of our problem houses where there is drug dealing and gun fire going on inside the house, broken glass from gunshots." Cayton said illegal squatters have plagued his community and at one point 18 homes were illegally seized.

"The problem is that people get companies to buy properties for them, and when they can't afford it, they move out, then the illegal settlers move in," Cayton said. He also said that the illegal settlers were not neighborly.

Due to laws protecting illegal settlers, Keaton said that their homeowners' association had difficulties evicting them, but the new law has changed that. "The law establishes certain parameters to protect property owners," said Georgia representative Misha Minor. "Previously, if there was a procedure for victims, it could take several months to get someone out of a house you own; now it will take three days."

In addition, Minor said illegal settlers will now be held financially responsible to speed up the eviction process. "They also have to pay rent for all the time they spent in the property and any damages," she said. Minor added that illegal settlers who make false leases could be convicted of a misdemeanor and jailed for a year.

News that Hampton Oaks residents, whose homes are worth between $450,000 and $600,000, said the news couldn't have come at a better time. "It was a beautiful neighborhood and it's horrible to know that something like this could have happened and someone could actually commit a theft and legally have rights to stay in the house," Cayton said.

The adoption of the law is not final yet; it still needs to be signed by the governor.