The anarchist squatters of the Turritopsis Nutricula collective are facing eviction after living for weeks in an empty duplex across the street from Garfield High School. Details from our sister site the Central District News:
Occupiers at Turritopsis Nutricula summoned to court for eviction
According to an email from the Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) to people who had filed complaints, the building owner’s representatives “had sought to have the occupants removed as trespassers but the Seattle Police Department took the position that a court order would be required to remove the occupants.” DPD then gave both the occupiers and the building owners an “Emergency Order to Vacate” due to unapproved electrical work and the lack of water service. They set the deadline for vacating as December 16 at 5 p.m., but the occupiers defied the order. That order does not authorize physically removing the occupants. >> Full Story at CDN >
It’s ridiculous that the owner of this property has to go through all these hoops, with the attendant legal costs, in order to get these opportunistic losers out of the home.
I would think all the owner would need do is file a trespassing complaint, then the SPD could go in and remove the squatters. But apparently the legal process has to be complicated and prolonged, while the occupiers thumb their nose at the system. Too bad.
It’s the same bullshit if you’re a landlord whose tenant doesn’t pay their rent. It can take as long as 2 months to kick someone out. The laws enacted to protect renters can make life unbearable for perfectly reasonable landlords.