whats going on with this country?

[CheGuevara]

A few cans of bear spray through the windows in the middle of the night ought to clear them out.

Extremely disturbing - and another case of the Police immediately standing up for the scum and appearing to criminalise the innocent (like the Mylene Klass intruder case)

They tell people not to take the law into their own hands - I think good honest law abiding people will begin to at some point say enough is enough

Before anyone is burnt or hung.....

The article says that the Romanians had a tenancy agreement. This may or may not be true, but there is a possiblility that the Romanians have been paying rent to someone purporting to be the landlord. In that case they have been duped. Obviously, this could be complete bollix and a fabrication on their part.

On the other hand it could be true. Suppose they'd paid someone to bring them to this country (whether legally or otherwise) and provide them with accommodation? In this case shouldn't it be the person duping them that should be burnt or hung?

All I'm saying is that there might be more to this that first meets the eye. The Daily Mail isn't the most balanced of papers at time.

Either way, it is not right that the owners should have their house stolen and yes, the squatters' law is wrong.

Originally Posted by Jabba

All I'm saying is that there might be more to this that first meets the eye. The Daily Mail isn't the most balanced of papers at time.

Agreed. The Daily Fail only exists to wind up small minded people with stories like this. I expect that a large part of this story is fabricated or distorted by the Daily Heil. I'd be interested in knowing what the real facts are.

[CheGuevara]

I don't understand why the squatter's law exists (at least in modern society)? What benefit does it provide to law-abiding members of society?

Even if the tenants believe they're renting it legitimately, if I buy a car, motorcycle or some other item that I believe to be legit, and it turns out it's stolen, the police would have it off of me immediately. Like buying a vehicle, the onus ought to be on the tenant to ensure it's a legitimate deal-tough luck if you've failed to do that and are evicted as a result.

[jambo]

Were it my house then I would be very upset. However, just to make a point clear. They had not lived in the property since the middle of 2007. The builders had vacated it before Christmas meaning that no one was living there and there were no possessions of theirs present at the time. IIRC Squatter's rights apply only to vacant, uninhabited properties, not a house used everyday if you happen to be out at the shops.

They seem to think they have a tenancy agreement, and a court eviction notice was obtained and served quite rapidly. Lets not forget there are kids involved, whatever the adults have done some small amount of time must be given to find alternative accommodation. Throwing people out onto the street with zero notice, into the snow, isn't terribly humane, however illegal their tenancy papers.

Good luck getting them moved on though, and if the police are unprepared to enforce the eviction sharpish I'd be writing to the commissioner's office, and it wouldn't be a nice letter either.

Jambo

Originally Posted by CheGuevara

Even if the tenants believe they're renting it legitimately, if I buy a car, motorcycle or some other item that I believe to be legit, and it turns out it's stolen, the police would have it off of me immediately. Like buying a vehicle, the onus ought to be on the tenant to ensure it's a legitimate deal-tough luck if you've failed to do that and are evicted as a result.

I don't have a problem with any of that at all, and my sympathies are with the genuine owners.

However, there were a few inflammatory posts earlier, e.g. this one (sorry Dan, I've chosen yours, no offence intended)....

If it were my house, I would smash my front door in at 3am and run around my house screaming and shouting with fire sticks, preferably with a group of friends.

...which suggested taking the law into one's own hands and scaring the bejesus out of the Romanians when they might also be innocent victims.

There is no such thing as squatter's rights unless they're there for more than 12 years. Whether the title is registered or unregistered makes a big difference.

Here they clearly have no right to occupy and so the court granted a possession order. So what's the problem? Whether they are quatters or not they are 'residential occupiers' and that means that you need a Court order. Just imagine if you could go and forcibly evict. Forcible eviction without a Court order is a serious offence. Rightly so.

Originally Posted by Ed

Here they clearly have no right to occupy and so the court granted a possession order. So what's the problem?

I offer in evidence, M'Lud, the Daily Mail.....

Possession Orders are not exactly rare. Why hightlight this case? Oops, I forgot.... there's foreigners involved.

Originally Posted by jambo

Throwing people out onto the street with zero notice, into the snow, isn't terribly humane

Well b*gger me, isn't that pretty much what's happening to the British family?