Anxiety over squatters, fueled by TikTok, inspires a wave of legislation

Across various news channels and outlets, a visceral fear of some property owners — that an unwanted guest could move into their vacant home, refuse to leave, and then claim ownership — has been a trending story.

These squatter horror stories have reached a fever pitch in the past month after a migrant TikTok influencer, Venezuelan national Leonel Moreno, encouraged people to squat in homes across the United States. Moreno was arrested in Ohio in late March by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

New York Democratic state Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, who represents Staten Island and southern Brooklyn, acknowledged there is little data to support claims that squatting is on the rise, or even that it happens that often.

But Scarcella-Spanton told Stateline that “once is enough” and that there needs to be a quicker way to remove squatters.

Her proposal, which made it into the state’s 2025 budget signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, spells out clearly that squatters don’t have tenants’ legal rights related to evictions. Proponents say that will make it easier for police to remove squatters from properties.

“Some people will make the argument that this is a very rare occurrence. But I think if it happens once or twice, it’s unacceptable,” Scarcella-Spanton said. “It’s always good to have data when we’re trying to push legislation, but most importantly, I think that just seeing the cases that we’ve seen over the last couple of months in the news is reason enough to move forward with legislation.”

Some landlords and property owners in blue states are hoping their lawmakers join the anti-squatting movement.

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