WEBVTT - How Squatting Works

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you Should Know

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<v Speaker 1>from House Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, and welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. With me is Charles W. Bryant.

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<v Speaker 1>We like to call him Chuck here on Stuff you

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<v Speaker 1>Should Know, which is what you're listening to. So there

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<v Speaker 1>you have it. There's there's the introke Chuck. That's nice.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm coffeed up now, so I'm I'm firing on all pistons,

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<v Speaker 1>are you Yeah? I got the hicks Chuck ready to go? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 1>Have you, uh, you know much about homelessness there, Chuck?

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<v Speaker 1>Not really? Have you ever heard that, um, homelessness really

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<v Speaker 1>began to take steam in America? Uh in the sixties,

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<v Speaker 1>seventies and eighties when states started just shutting down mental institution.

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<v Speaker 1>I have heard that. Actually, and this this part is unsubstantiated,

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<v Speaker 1>but I I since I say it's a rumor, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>going to just continue it anyway. How about that? It

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<v Speaker 1>sounds good? Um. Apparently in New York there was series

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<v Speaker 1>of shutdowns in the eighties. Ronald Reagan's often blamed for this,

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<v Speaker 1>although he didn't have any necessarily direct hand and shutting

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<v Speaker 1>down mental institutions. Not like you're insane, you're out on

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<v Speaker 1>the street. But it was under his administration that a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of them uh went under basically and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>you have all these um mentally infirmed people, uh and

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<v Speaker 1>now they have nowhere to live. So apparently in the

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<v Speaker 1>state of New York, they gave him a bus ticket

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<v Speaker 1>like fifty bucks and sent him to New York City.

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<v Speaker 1>And the homeless population has just shot through the roofs

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<v Speaker 1>since the sixties, right, there was homelessness before the Great

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<v Speaker 1>Depression was a big time for homelessness and hoboism, which

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<v Speaker 1>is a word I just made up, um, But it

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<v Speaker 1>really really picked up in the sixties, seventies and eighties,

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<v Speaker 1>and and now we have the homeless problem that we

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<v Speaker 1>have today. Um. And it's this is not to say

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<v Speaker 1>that you know, if you're a homeless person, you're you're

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<v Speaker 1>mentally unstable. It's that's not necessarily a case. But the cut,

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<v Speaker 1>the the closing down of state institutions and the company

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<v Speaker 1>the country really had that effect, right right, that's sad.

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<v Speaker 1>And I do know that you know a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>homeless people are suffering from various forms of mental illness.

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<v Speaker 1>Self that that kind of makes sense. But they're also

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<v Speaker 1>expanding the definition of homeless um. Homelessness before UH usually

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<v Speaker 1>just encompass somebody who had no home or was staying

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<v Speaker 1>in a shelter um, and they expanded it to include

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<v Speaker 1>people who are living in like weekly motels, uh, staying

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<v Speaker 1>on other people's couches. Apparently that just shot the numbers

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<v Speaker 1>through the roof. Wow. Yeah, sure so. Apparently in two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand seven UM, the estimated number by the National Alliance

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<v Speaker 1>to and Homelessness for homeless people on the streets was

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<v Speaker 1>about six hundred seventy one thousand and change, almost six people. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>so that doesn't include the college dude crashing on his

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<v Speaker 1>buddy's couch during the fish tour. And actually, that's a

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<v Speaker 1>pretty funny that you say that, because I used to

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<v Speaker 1>have a friend named Hippie Rob who was staying at

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<v Speaker 1>my house for a really long time and he would

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<v Speaker 1>not leave right. You know, I liked him a lot,

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<v Speaker 1>he was a good friend, but man, he really knew

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<v Speaker 1>how to move right, and he was staying on my couch. Finally,

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<v Speaker 1>one day I took Hippie Rob to Kmart and said,

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<v Speaker 1>here's twenty bucks by a good tent, right, And he

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<v Speaker 1>bought a tent and I put him in the car

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<v Speaker 1>with his tent and drove into the woods. It was

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<v Speaker 1>like it was a lot like that scene for Mai

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<v Speaker 1>where the mom drops off young David the robot um

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<v Speaker 1>and uh, it was less sad though. Wow, that's an

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<v Speaker 1>incredible story. That is a true story. He was just

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<v Speaker 1>he was squatting in your own house. He was. Actually,

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<v Speaker 1>it's funny that you mentioned squatting since this the the

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<v Speaker 1>title of his podcast, right like that. So my homeless

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<v Speaker 1>segue was really intended to serve as a Jessie juxtaposition

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<v Speaker 1>between um, the number of people homeless on the streets,

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<v Speaker 1>which is about with the number of vacant housing units

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<v Speaker 1>in the US that same year, which was sixteen point

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<v Speaker 1>seven million. Interesting, So basically, what we're what we have

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<v Speaker 1>in this country is a homeless problem with a clear solution.

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<v Speaker 1>There's vacant houses, and yet people around the street still, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>so why don't we just move them in to vacant houses? Right?

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<v Speaker 1>It would be a little tricky, I guess, but it

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<v Speaker 1>seems possible. Actually, there are people who are doing it

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<v Speaker 1>right now. Yeah, there's this a group called take Back

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<v Speaker 1>the Land out of Miami um, and they have been

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<v Speaker 1>staging uh, basically homeless move ins into vacant housing down there.

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<v Speaker 1>This new housing or stuff that's been abandoned. I think

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<v Speaker 1>it's both a bank owned foreclosed stuff that's been on

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<v Speaker 1>the market forever. Um in Miami apparently just got reamed

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<v Speaker 1>by the subprime mortgage fallout, and there's plenty of houses

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<v Speaker 1>to go around, so these people are just moving them

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<v Speaker 1>in there. Um. Same with home not Jails, who are

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<v Speaker 1>basically their their mission is to stop the the court

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<v Speaker 1>system from just jailing homeless people. UM. So they're in

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<v Speaker 1>they're they're the San Francisco Tenants Union. Uh. There's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people out there who are saying, there's an

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<v Speaker 1>empty house right there. This person is homeless. Whether it's

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<v Speaker 1>because they are insane or they're down on their luck

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't matter. Basically, it's the distinction between whether or not

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<v Speaker 1>housing is a basic human right. Sure, you know is

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<v Speaker 1>it Isn't it under capitalism? No, it's not. If you

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<v Speaker 1>don't have the money, you're on the street, whether this

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<v Speaker 1>is vacant or not. Right, So, okay, we're talking about

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<v Speaker 1>squatting Chuck, Let's let's go. Let's give a little background

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<v Speaker 1>on squatting. Okay, are you going to give a little

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<v Speaker 1>background on squatting? Well, uh, sure, Josh. Can you define

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<v Speaker 1>squat Yes, it's when you actually live in a place

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<v Speaker 1>or on a parcel of land that's unused or not yours. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>not not yours and not us. Yeah, we should make

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<v Speaker 1>the distinction because if you move into a house with

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<v Speaker 1>a family already living there, you've just committed home invasion

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<v Speaker 1>and you're you're in big trouble. Right. So it's an

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<v Speaker 1>empty house, it's not yours or or a piece of land,

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<v Speaker 1>and you've moved in or camped out on it and

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<v Speaker 1>stayed there, right, And that means you're squatting. That is

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<v Speaker 1>squatting right there, um, which would probably be the end

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<v Speaker 1>of the story, right, because if you own that land

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<v Speaker 1>or you own that house and you have a squatter,

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<v Speaker 1>you would think all you would have to do is

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<v Speaker 1>go in, pull a gun on them and run them off, right,

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<v Speaker 1>or more peacefully asked them to leave. Yeah. Usually I

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<v Speaker 1>think somebody who leaves, if you asked them to was

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<v Speaker 1>just crashing it at that place. A squatters one who

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<v Speaker 1>just says no, right, I'm not moving. Well, you would

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<v Speaker 1>think it'd be that cut and dry, but it's actually not,

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<v Speaker 1>um that cut and dry, because squatters can actually are

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<v Speaker 1>protected in certain ways. Yeah. There there's this thing called well,

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<v Speaker 1>there's property rights, the right of a landowner, a homeowner. Right. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>there's also tenants rights. Uh where if you rent like

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<v Speaker 1>I do. Um, I can't. I can't just be kicked

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<v Speaker 1>out of my house because the landlord got sick of me.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a least, there's a there's a contractual obligation, there's

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<v Speaker 1>laws that guide that along. The thing is is in

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<v Speaker 1>I think every state, these same rights are extended to squatters,

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<v Speaker 1>and a tenant right actually kicks in in Georgia after

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<v Speaker 1>three days. Yeah. So if you have an annoying house

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<v Speaker 1>guest over for a long weekend, at the end of

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<v Speaker 1>the three days, if they don't feel like moving, you've

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<v Speaker 1>got a problem on your hands. Yeah, that's why I

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<v Speaker 1>refused to have any house guests for longer than two days.

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<v Speaker 1>That's just a good policy, it's a good rule of thumb.

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<v Speaker 1>You're out. So um, all right, we've got property rights,

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<v Speaker 1>we have tenants rights, and basically, as an tention of

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<v Speaker 1>the tenants rights. Um, there's also this thing called adverse possession,

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<v Speaker 1>which is the ultimate nightmare of somebody who has a squatter. Right.

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<v Speaker 1>We heard a little bit back from fans about when

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<v Speaker 1>we did our Grilla Gardening podcast about someone beautifying, um,

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<v Speaker 1>like a strip of public land. Potentially that could lead

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<v Speaker 1>to adverse possession. So that's a reason that someone might

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<v Speaker 1>not want that. Yeah, Well, I think the the technical

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<v Speaker 1>definition of adverse possession is, uh, living openly, continuously and hostily.

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<v Speaker 1>And hostily isn't like you're chasing, you know, little kids

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<v Speaker 1>around your yard with the stick. It's you're you're not

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<v Speaker 1>moving if they ask you to. Well yeah, and it

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<v Speaker 1>means you don't permission, right um. They you have to

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<v Speaker 1>live there for a set period, right right Um, And

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<v Speaker 1>that's usually state by state. In California, if you can

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<v Speaker 1>do that for five years, um, you own the property.

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<v Speaker 1>In West Virginia it's ten. In Texas it's thirty. But

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<v Speaker 1>I think every state again has a rule of ever's possession.

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<v Speaker 1>So basically, if you live there, if you are especially

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<v Speaker 1>if you're keeping the place up that kind of thing,

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<v Speaker 1>and people know you're living there, Uh, once that that

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<v Speaker 1>time period comes up, you can go pay the property

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<v Speaker 1>taxes and that's yours. Right. That's the key though, I think,

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<v Speaker 1>is the property taxes. I think that makes it official.

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<v Speaker 1>I imagine that that almost never happens, that ever ever's

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<v Speaker 1>possession takes place, right you think, Well, I mean in

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<v Speaker 1>this day and age, with this many people crawling on

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<v Speaker 1>the planet, you know, land, land is it's important, it's expensive. Right, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm gunning for it. Is this time? Is it time

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<v Speaker 1>for my squatting story? Yeah? Please, I'm a squatter, Josh, oh, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's right. And when you're talking about yeah, are you

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<v Speaker 1>sure you want to talk about this? Chuck? Yeah, because no,

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<v Speaker 1>this is no one knows where I live. Um, My

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<v Speaker 1>house that I bought has a has a little strip

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<v Speaker 1>of land behind it, very small strip of land about

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred feet by forty ft I would say, And

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<v Speaker 1>the previous owner of the home had that um sectioned

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<v Speaker 1>off for some reason, and it's technically separate from my property.

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<v Speaker 1>We never heard from the sky and we moved in

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<v Speaker 1>and that's half of that strip of land is most

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<v Speaker 1>of my backyard. So Emily and I decided that, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we're just gonna put our fence up, put our privacy,

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<v Speaker 1>fence up, plant grass and you know, claim possession of

0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:19.880
<v Speaker 1>this land if we never hear from this guy. We

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<v Speaker 1>checked with the county and there were years of back

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<v Speaker 1>taxes owed on it. Then he clearly abandoned he thought,

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<v Speaker 1>I guess he thought he could build something on it,

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<v Speaker 1>but there there's not enough room. You have to have variances,

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<v Speaker 1>be a certain amount from the curb and all that

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<v Speaker 1>to build something, so you couldn't build anything on it

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<v Speaker 1>and basically just kind of dumped it. Um. So we

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<v Speaker 1>have claimed it as our own and we've been in

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<v Speaker 1>the house for I think three years now. Have you

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<v Speaker 1>been living hostily? We haven't been living very hostile. What's

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<v Speaker 1>the what's the time limit in Georgia? You know, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not I'm not positive. I believe it's seven years, but

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<v Speaker 1>we need to look that up for sure. And we've

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<v Speaker 1>also been in touch with the county about the back taxes.

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<v Speaker 1>Still haven't been paid and when it comes to time,

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna pay the taxes and claiming his around. Nice. Nice,

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<v Speaker 1>Keep keep living the dream, Chuck, Keep fighting the good fight, right,

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<v Speaker 1>keep squatting and uh well, there in addition to living

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<v Speaker 1>continuously openly and hostily. Right. Um, there's actually some steps

0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:18.400
<v Speaker 1>that a squatter can take to basically lay claim on

0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:21.880
<v Speaker 1>a place, right. Um, if you're keeping if you're keeping

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<v Speaker 1>a place up, if you clean it up, maybe plant

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<v Speaker 1>some shrubs something like that. Yeah, plant, Um, you're you're

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<v Speaker 1>you're saying you're laying claim on the place, and you're

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<v Speaker 1>also you're also showing that it's actually going to it's

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<v Speaker 1>doing better in your possession, whether you really own it

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<v Speaker 1>or not, which goes a long way to um. But

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<v Speaker 1>let's say you move into a place, you throw up

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<v Speaker 1>some curtains, plant a couple of bushes, Maybe you borrow

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<v Speaker 1>a lawnmower from a friend with a house and you

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<v Speaker 1>cut the lawn something like that, and um, you you

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<v Speaker 1>you've set up house. Right, one of the first things

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<v Speaker 1>you can expect is a visit from the cops. Because

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<v Speaker 1>if you if you live in a neighborhood and the

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<v Speaker 1>house has been empty and all of a sudden there's

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<v Speaker 1>somebody living in it, especially somebody who drives their shirts

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<v Speaker 1>on a clothesline out front, Um, they're they're going to

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<v Speaker 1>take notice and they're going to call the cops on you.

0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:14.280
<v Speaker 1>But there's not a lot of cops can do though, No,

0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:18.200
<v Speaker 1>there's not. UM. This is if you can prove tenant

0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:21.079
<v Speaker 1>rights that you are staying there, whether you're supposed to

0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:23.560
<v Speaker 1>be or not. Right. UM. One good way to do

0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.160
<v Speaker 1>this is to go to the utility company and ask

0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.040
<v Speaker 1>to have the power turned on and start paying a

0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:30.800
<v Speaker 1>power bill there, which you can gain. Yeah. Yeah, you

0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:33.640
<v Speaker 1>don't have to prove ownership. I never have had to. UM.

0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:37.640
<v Speaker 1>You just go and set up a an account, start paying,

0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:39.679
<v Speaker 1>and then you have bills that are coming in your

0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.040
<v Speaker 1>name to that address. If the cops show up to

0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:44.719
<v Speaker 1>your house, you get to show them this and they say,

0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:47.200
<v Speaker 1>good enough for me. And what you've just done is

0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:49.800
<v Speaker 1>shifted the burden of proof that you're not supposed to

0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:53.760
<v Speaker 1>be there from you the squatter, to the landlord. And

0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:56.559
<v Speaker 1>it's a huge headache for landland right and becomes a

0:12:56.600 --> 0:12:59.080
<v Speaker 1>civil matter. It is a civil matter. The cops are

0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:02.080
<v Speaker 1>immediately taken out of the the equation. Indeed, I have

0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.280
<v Speaker 1>to tell you, UM, when I first researched this article,

0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:08.840
<v Speaker 1>I was very much gung ho like squatters rights, let's,

0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:11.320
<v Speaker 1>you know, put the homeless in homes and and I

0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:14.439
<v Speaker 1>get that, Like I still feel that, UM, But I

0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:17.040
<v Speaker 1>I was kind of brought down to earth a little

0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:21.520
<v Speaker 1>bit when I interviewed our CEO, Mike Castcon, who actually

0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:26.439
<v Speaker 1>had a long, harrowing story with a squatter. Um, he

0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:29.400
<v Speaker 1>had like a rental place, right and um, he had

0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:31.640
<v Speaker 1>a tenant that had a lease and the lease came

0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:34.280
<v Speaker 1>up and the tenant moved out, but the tenant and

0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:36.960
<v Speaker 1>had a friend staying there, and the friend didn't move out,

0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:40.959
<v Speaker 1>and she said, I'm not moving, sorry, budd. And so

0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:44.680
<v Speaker 1>Castcon says that when you you think all the things

0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:48.360
<v Speaker 1>that you can do to get rid of somebody who's

0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:51.200
<v Speaker 1>a squatter, you you can't do like you can't turn

0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:53.960
<v Speaker 1>off the power, you can't turn off the water. Um,

0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:56.600
<v Speaker 1>you basically have to make sure that they're comfortable and

0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.880
<v Speaker 1>safe and get found your place. Yeah you can get big,

0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:02.600
<v Speaker 1>I'm fine. Um. And he also said he spent you know,

0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:06.200
<v Speaker 1>several thousand dollars in court fees and and um, you know,

0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:09.720
<v Speaker 1>things like having subpoenas delivered that kind of stuff. Uh,

0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:13.679
<v Speaker 1>and missed work getting this person out of his place,

0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:16.520
<v Speaker 1>and good luck getting you know, a refund on anything

0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:20.040
<v Speaker 1>like that, right or getting right Yeah, Yeah, no, I

0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:23.600
<v Speaker 1>don't think she had much money. Um. Yeah, So that

0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:26.760
<v Speaker 1>was that kind of changed my my attitude a little

0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:29.040
<v Speaker 1>bit at the very least. Now I start to see

0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:31.920
<v Speaker 1>it from both sides, you know, because there's there's a

0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:35.080
<v Speaker 1>victim in it, even though when you're talking about putting

0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.200
<v Speaker 1>the homeless and housing it's kind of tough to see

0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:40.440
<v Speaker 1>it that way, but but there definitely is. So what

0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:43.160
<v Speaker 1>do you do, well, how to get a squatter out?

0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:46.000
<v Speaker 1>Tell me, well, I think there are legal avenues that

0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:48.520
<v Speaker 1>you need to go through. Uh, if you're a landlord,

0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:51.800
<v Speaker 1>which does not include, like we said, turning off the

0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:53.840
<v Speaker 1>water and power, because you can get in trouble for that.

0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:57.880
<v Speaker 1>If you're a landlord, you can basically you need to

0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:00.400
<v Speaker 1>call an attorney. If you have a squatter, don't make

0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:02.440
<v Speaker 1>a move, just say I'd like you to get out.

0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:06.240
<v Speaker 1>They say no, You say to be continued and go

0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:09.920
<v Speaker 1>get a lawyer. But there the the landlord that's tough.

0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:12.640
<v Speaker 1>You know that. You usually if you're an individual landlord,

0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:16.640
<v Speaker 1>you don't have you know, vast resources. So the the

0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:22.520
<v Speaker 1>great enemy of the common squatter is gentrification urban renewal,

0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:25.080
<v Speaker 1>because all of a sudden you have developers in the equation,

0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:29.280
<v Speaker 1>and developers tend to have much deeper pockets and possibly

0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:33.720
<v Speaker 1>fewer scruples than the individual landlord. There's actually a squat

0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.400
<v Speaker 1>um a house that was being squatted in, uh down

0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:38.720
<v Speaker 1>the street from me a couple of years back. Yeah,

0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:43.640
<v Speaker 1>it was bad um and one day it wasn't there anymore.

0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:46.800
<v Speaker 1>It down just tore it down. Interesting the developer did,

0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:49.560
<v Speaker 1>yeah yeah, and wait, waited till the person was out

0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:51.040
<v Speaker 1>of the house, or just showed up with the I

0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:53.480
<v Speaker 1>don't know. Um, I've seen a couple of people who

0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:56.360
<v Speaker 1>were squatting in the house walking around since then. So

0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:57.840
<v Speaker 1>I guess you gave him a chance to get out.

0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:00.040
<v Speaker 1>But the house isn't there anymore, which is really on

0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:03.320
<v Speaker 1>a cynical a little sour, I should say, because now

0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:05.680
<v Speaker 1>it's just an empty piece of land. Yeah yeah, but

0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:07.800
<v Speaker 1>I guess he really didn't want people staying in his house,

0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:10.200
<v Speaker 1>so he sent the wrecking ball through, right, And and

0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:12.880
<v Speaker 1>so urban renewal in general, in general, once you have

0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:16.240
<v Speaker 1>the presence of developers, but not just developers, um, you know,

0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:21.200
<v Speaker 1>and upwardly mobile people who really don't want squatters hanging

0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.720
<v Speaker 1>around and bringing part property values back down right right. Um,

0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:27.400
<v Speaker 1>So if you're if you're a squatter, you're in trouble

0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:31.200
<v Speaker 1>once once a place gets tapped for you know, gentrification, right.

0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:33.160
<v Speaker 1>And I would guess, and this is a generalization, but

0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:35.840
<v Speaker 1>that most people that move in squat into a place

0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:40.840
<v Speaker 1>it's abandoned probably don't do massive improvements. And you know,

0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:42.960
<v Speaker 1>it's it's probably not that kind of situation. No, I

0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:44.520
<v Speaker 1>can tell you the squat down the street for me

0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:48.680
<v Speaker 1>was was not the case. Yeah. Yeah, So, but I

0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:51.600
<v Speaker 1>am in a in an area that's being gentrified as

0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:56.000
<v Speaker 1>we speak, right. Um. And apparently Geneva, Switzerland, went through

0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:58.560
<v Speaker 1>a similar thing in the nineties. There was a group

0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:03.240
<v Speaker 1>called Rhino and they were basically political activist squatters and

0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:06.199
<v Speaker 1>at its peak this group held a hundred and fifty

0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:12.280
<v Speaker 1>apartment buildings apartment buildings, not apartment units in the city. Um,

0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:15.680
<v Speaker 1>and all of a sudden there's this urban renewal movement

0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:18.359
<v Speaker 1>that comes through Geneva, and by two thousand seven they

0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.320
<v Speaker 1>had like twenty seven, which is still a substantial amount

0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.800
<v Speaker 1>of apartment buildings, but compared to a hundred and fifty.

0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:27.200
<v Speaker 1>You can see, once once an areas targeted like this,

0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.920
<v Speaker 1>then then there's nothing you can do. Have to move

0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:32.639
<v Speaker 1>out to the sticks. They've also done this in London,

0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:35.840
<v Speaker 1>in Denmark, just to name a couple. Yeah, yeah, now

0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.359
<v Speaker 1>there is a there is Squatting can be good to

0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:43.520
<v Speaker 1>some extent that Okay. So there's this Peruvian economist. His

0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:47.040
<v Speaker 1>name is here Nando de Soto. Very nice, thank you, UM,

0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:50.359
<v Speaker 1>and he created a what he called a roadmap to

0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:54.720
<v Speaker 1>wealth and it was specifically designed for UM post Soviet

0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:58.719
<v Speaker 1>former satellite countries that we're making the transition from communism

0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:03.360
<v Speaker 1>to the free market. UM. And one of the one

0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:06.160
<v Speaker 1>of the UM facets of this, one of the major

0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:10.600
<v Speaker 1>parts of it was that squatters on rural land, the

0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:12.840
<v Speaker 1>rural poor who were just like living on land and

0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:15.800
<v Speaker 1>Shanny's and that kind of thing, their land, the land

0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.400
<v Speaker 1>that they were squatting on should be UM parceled up

0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:21.880
<v Speaker 1>and they should go register it and then by being landowners,

0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:25.080
<v Speaker 1>they would have credit available to them, which should considerably

0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.960
<v Speaker 1>get the economy going right. Interesting thing. It's unproven, but

0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:31.960
<v Speaker 1>it's actually being tried UH in a country called the

0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:36.800
<v Speaker 1>Prettiness Strovi, which is UM an unrecognized nation that used

0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:40.920
<v Speaker 1>to formally be part of Moldovia. Interesting. UM, So we'll

0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:42.720
<v Speaker 1>see if it happens, right, see if they get their

0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:45.760
<v Speaker 1>seat at the u N. Yeah. Yeah, well we'll see.

0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.360
<v Speaker 1>Only time will tell, and if they do, you can

0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:50.960
<v Speaker 1>bet that it's going to be because of Hernando de

0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:53.679
<v Speaker 1>Soto and they'll probably put them on some sort of

0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:58.960
<v Speaker 1>currency probably or statue at least. So that's that's squatting, right, squatting.

0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:01.280
<v Speaker 1>I will continue to squad and maybe in a few

0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:03.919
<v Speaker 1>years if we're still doing this podcast, and then I'll

0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:05.880
<v Speaker 1>let everyone know how it went. Yeah. I'm really curious

0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:07.840
<v Speaker 1>to see how this goes. And I hope you didn't

0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:11.400
<v Speaker 1>just out yourself. I don't think so. I would kick so. Um,

0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:13.120
<v Speaker 1>you got anything else you want? You want to get

0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:15.960
<v Speaker 1>something off your chest? Maybe maybe a little listener mail.

0:19:19.320 --> 0:19:21.480
<v Speaker 1>All right, let's hear Josh, this comes to us. And

0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.280
<v Speaker 1>I'm not gonna read this person's name because it's slightly sensitive.

0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:25.960
<v Speaker 1>We'll just say that the name starts with the G.

0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:30.919
<v Speaker 1>And G wrote us about the Delta Force podcast. And

0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:33.560
<v Speaker 1>here's what I remember that one. Yeah, here's what G

0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:36.399
<v Speaker 1>had to say. Uh, the podcast reminded me of a

0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:38.760
<v Speaker 1>friend I used to have a work when Ronald Reagan

0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:41.440
<v Speaker 1>started doing his war drugs. My friend, let's call him John,

0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:44.880
<v Speaker 1>was removed from the military and sent on these black ops,

0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:48.080
<v Speaker 1>black operations. Uh, an amount of money would be left

0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:50.600
<v Speaker 1>in a safe deposit box in the in the mark's area,

0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:52.560
<v Speaker 1>and the mark was so when he had to kill.

0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:56.800
<v Speaker 1>Uh with a photo of the mark and some other information. Uh,

0:19:56.920 --> 0:19:58.800
<v Speaker 1>the mark is was usually a drug lord or a

0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:02.320
<v Speaker 1>higher up deem to big of a threat. So John

0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:04.600
<v Speaker 1>and his partner would use the money to buy local

0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:10.000
<v Speaker 1>guns and supplies, then head out and snipe with the PERSONA. Yeah,

0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:12.120
<v Speaker 1>Waxham and this is you know this guy would tell

0:20:12.119 --> 0:20:15.320
<v Speaker 1>these stories in the break round. Evidently, Uh. He said

0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:17.120
<v Speaker 1>it wasn't a one day operation. They had to set

0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:20.320
<v Speaker 1>up camp tonight before and set up land mines around

0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:24.439
<v Speaker 1>their camp, so anyone coming in would get tripped up

0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:26.720
<v Speaker 1>by the land mine coming and trying to kill them.

0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:30.560
<v Speaker 1>And he says on countless occasions he would hear an explosion,

0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:33.520
<v Speaker 1>thinking assassin was coming to kill him, only to find

0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:37.840
<v Speaker 1>a shredded cow had happened upon the land mine. And

0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:40.639
<v Speaker 1>so because are always the innocent by standards and anything.

0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:42.399
<v Speaker 1>So this is an amazing story. And I don't know

0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:44.080
<v Speaker 1>if it's true, but I don't see no reason why

0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:46.240
<v Speaker 1>this person went right in and make all this up,

0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:48.120
<v Speaker 1>so it sounds pretty good to me. Yeah, well, thanks

0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:51.400
<v Speaker 1>a lot. Gee, that story is absolutely nuts. And uh.

0:20:51.680 --> 0:20:54.280
<v Speaker 1>If you have an amazing or harrowing tale of cow's

0:20:54.320 --> 0:20:57.480
<v Speaker 1>being blown up, or people being greased, or you just

0:20:57.480 --> 0:20:59.800
<v Speaker 1>want to say hi, you can send an email to

0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:07.920
<v Speaker 1>Stuff Podcast at how stuff works dot com. For more

0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:10.560
<v Speaker 1>on this and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff

0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:15.000
<v Speaker 1>works dot com. M HM brought to you by the

0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:18.360
<v Speaker 1>reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you