To get rid of squatters legally, you have to use your state’s court-supervised eviction process: serve a written notice to vacate, file an eviction lawsuit if they don’t leave, win a judgment, and have the sheriff carry out the physical removal. A growing number of states now offer a faster sheriff-based removal for squatter situations specifically, and it’s worth checking whether yours is one of them before you file anything. What you cannot do, in any state, is handle it yourself.
Do Not Try to Remove Them Yourself
Changing the locks, shutting off the water, hauling belongings to the curb, or physically forcing someone out is called self-help eviction, and every state prohibits it. The consequences are not minor. A court can order you to let the squatter back in, pay their actual damages (temporary housing, spoiled food, damaged belongings), and in some states pay statutory penalties on top of that. A handful of states treat self-help eviction as a misdemeanor, meaning fines or jail time for removing someone from a property you own.
This holds even when the person has no lease, no permission, and no legal right to be there. Once someone has established residency, the law treats the dispute as civil, not criminal, and the courts are the only lawful path. It feels slow. Cutting corners makes it slower and more expensive.
Figure Out Who Is Actually on Your Property
The right next step depends on the occupant’s legal status, and the law draws sharp lines between the categories.
A trespasser is someone who just entered without permission. If you catch them in the act, or they arrived recently and show no signs of living there, the police can remove them on the spot. That changes once the person has moved in belongings, started receiving mail at the address, connected utilities in their name, or been there more than a short period. At that point, officers will typically decline to act and tell you it’s a civil matter.
A squatter who has settled in must be removed through the formal eviction process. A holdover tenant (someone who had a valid lease but stayed past its expiration or after being told to leave) follows the same track. The practical difference tends to be the length of the notice period, which is often longer for former tenants than for unauthorized occupants.
One scenario catches owners off guard: a squatter who claims to be a tenant or produces something that looks like a lease. Police who encounter this will almost always step back and tell you to sort it out in court. Don’t argue with the officer. Gather your ownership records and go straight to the legal process. A judge can expose a fake lease quickly; a confrontation on the doorstep cannot.
Check Whether Your State Has an Expedited Process
Starting in 2024, a wave of state laws created faster alternatives to the standard eviction lawsuit for squatter cases. Florida was among the first. Its law lets a property owner file a verified complaint directly with the local sheriff to have an unauthorized occupant removed from a residential property. If the sheriff confirms the owner’s identity and right to possession, the squatter must vacate without delay, skipping the weeks or months a lawsuit would take.
The eligibility rules are strict. Under the Florida version, the occupant cannot be a current or former tenant under any rental agreement, the property must be a residential dwelling, there can be no pending litigation between the owner and the occupant, and the occupant cannot be an immediate family member of the owner. Miss any condition and you’re back on the standard track.
Georgia, Alabama, West Virginia, and New York have since enacted their own versions, with variations in how they define unauthorized occupants and what proof the owner must provide. This area is changing fast. Before you spend money on the standard process below, check whether your state offers an expedited one you qualify for.
Serve a Notice to Quit
If no expedited option is available, the first formal step is serving the occupant with a written notice, usually called a Notice to Quit or Notice to Vacate. Filing an eviction lawsuit without serving this notice first will get your case thrown out.
The notice needs to include the occupant’s name (you can use “John Doe” or “Jane Doe” if you don’t know it), the property address, a clear statement that the person must vacate, and the deadline for leaving. That deadline is set by state law and typically runs 3 to 30 days. Some states allow a shorter period for unauthorized occupants than for tenants.
Delivering the Notice
How you deliver matters as much as what the notice says. Most jurisdictions accept personal delivery, leaving the notice with another adult at the property, posting it conspicuously on the premises, or sending it by certified mail. Some states require more than one method. If you use a method your state doesn’t recognize, a court will treat it as if you never served the notice at all, and you start over.
Proving You Served It
Document the delivery immediately. You will need the proof when you file suit. The standard is an affidavit of service: a sworn statement by the person who delivered the notice describing the date, time, location, and method. If you posted it, photograph the notice in place. If you used certified mail, keep the receipt and any delivery confirmation. Missing documentation can stall your case before it starts.
File the Eviction Lawsuit
If the deadline passes and the squatter is still there, you file the eviction case at the courthouse in the county where the property is located. Depending on your state, it’s called an unlawful detainer action, a forcible entry and detainer case, or just an eviction complaint.
The complaint lays out the basic facts: you own the property, the occupant has no right to be there, you served the required notice, and the person hasn’t left. File it along with a copy of the notice and your proof of service. Court filing fees typically run between $50 and $500.
Serving the Lawsuit
Once the court accepts the filing, the squatter must be formally served with the complaint and a court summons. This is a separate service from the notice to quit, with its own rules. You cannot deliver these papers yourself. A neutral third party (a professional process server, a sheriff’s deputy, or any adult who isn’t involved in the case) handles it. A private process server typically costs $45 to $75.
The summons gives the squatter a deadline to file a response. No response means you can ask for a default judgment. If they do respond, the court schedules a hearing where both sides present their case. From filing to judgment, the average timeline is roughly six to eight weeks, though contested cases or backlogged courts can push that out considerably.
Get the Sheriff to Carry Out the Removal
Winning the judgment does not let you move the squatter’s things to the curb yourself. Only law enforcement can perform the physical removal.
Take the judge’s signed order to the court clerk and request a writ of possession (sometimes called a writ of restitution). This is the document that authorizes the sheriff to remove the occupant. The clerk charges a fee to issue it, and you then deliver the writ to the sheriff’s department along with a service fee. Budget roughly $50 to $300 total for both.
The sheriff posts a final notice giving the squatter a last window to leave voluntarily, usually 24 to 72 hours. When that window closes, deputies return and escort the squatter off the property. At that point you can change the locks and secure the premises.
Handling Belongings Left Behind
You will almost certainly find possessions still on the property after the removal. Do not throw them in a dumpster. Nearly every state requires you to give the former occupant written notice and a reasonable period to retrieve belongings before you can dispose of them. The notice window is usually 10 to 30 days.
The notice should describe the items, state where they can be picked up, and give a deadline for claiming them. Send it by certified mail if you have an address. Store the items somewhere reasonable in the meantime; you can generally charge for storage costs.
Once the deadline passes, your options depend on what was left and your state’s rules. Lower-value items can usually be discarded or kept. Higher-value property may need to go to a public sale, with the proceeds (after your storage and sale costs) held for the former occupant to claim. Getting this wrong can expose you to a lawsuit for conversion of property, so check your state’s abandoned-property statute before disposing of anything.
Why Waiting Makes It Worse
Beyond the daily headache, delay creates a longer-term legal risk. Under the doctrine of adverse possession, a person who occupies someone else’s property openly, continuously, and without permission for a long enough period can actually gain legal title to it. The squatter can eventually become the owner.
To win an adverse possession claim, the occupant must show possession that was continuous, open and notorious, exclusive, hostile (without the owner’s permission), and actual. They must maintain it for the entire statutory period, which varies dramatically by state, from as few as 2 years in limited circumstances to as long as 30 years.
The takeaway: the longer you wait, the stronger the squatter’s potential claim becomes. Owners who act within the first year or two of discovering the occupation almost never lose on adverse possession. Properties left unmonitored for a decade or more are genuinely at risk.
Keep Them Out Next Time
Every step above costs time and money. Prevention is cheaper across the board. If you own a vacant property, treat it like what it is: a target.
- Lock all doors and windows, add deadbolts, and consider window bars on ground-level openings. A squatter who can’t get in easily moves on.
- Visit the property at least weekly. Mow the lawn, collect the mail, and vary your schedule. A property that looks occupied rarely attracts squatters.
- Install visible security cameras. Even a basic cellular system works as both a deterrent and a source of evidence.
- Post “No Trespassing” signs. These help establish that any occupation is unauthorized, which matters if an adverse possession claim ever arises.
- Let trusted neighbors know the property is vacant and ask them to call you if they see anything unusual. A neighbor who notices someone moving furniture in at 2 a.m. is your best early warning.
- Keep utilities connected. A property with no running water and no electricity signals abandonment, and keeping basic services on also helps preserve insurance coverage by keeping the property from being classified as vacant.
None of these steps are expensive relative to an eviction, which between legal fees, court costs, lost rental income, and property damage can easily run into thousands of dollars. A squatter situation resolved quickly is still a bad month. One that drags through the courts is a bad year.