Sell a Clearwater, FL house with squatters for cash, as-is, with the occupants still inside: Florida's 2024 sheriff removal law, how it differs from eviction, and how we take over the problem at closing. Written offer within 24 hours.
Unauthorized occupants find vacant houses. A home in Greenwood or North Greenwood empty since an owner's death, a flood-damaged house on the bayside left open since 2024, a rental between tenants, a snowbird's place closed for the summer. Someone notices the lights are never on, the back door gives, and within weeks there are people living there, sometimes with a forged lease and a utility bill in their name to show the police. The owner, often out of state, learns about it from a neighbor or a City of Clearwater code notice, and assumes it will take months of court hearings to get them out. Since July 2024, Florida law offers a much faster path for true trespassers.
Clearwater Cash Buyers buys houses with unauthorized occupants throughout Clearwater and north Pinellas, as-is, with the people still inside. We take over the removal, the cleanup and the repairs after closing. This page explains the remedy Florida created in 2024 for property owners, how it differs from an eviction, what you should and should not do in the meantime, and how a sale ends the problem on your side of the closing table.
How it works
- Tell us about the house — address and condition. Two minutes.
- Get a fair cash offer — based on real Clearwater-area values. No obligation.
- You choose closing — 7 days or on your schedule. We pay the customary closing costs.
Florida's sheriff removal law, in plain terms
Since July 1, 2024, Florida law (section 82.036 of the Florida Statutes) lets the owner of a residential property, or the owner's authorized agent, file a sworn complaint with the county sheriff to remove unauthorized persons without a court eviction, when specific conditions are met: the property was not open to the public when the person entered, the person entered and remains unlawfully, was directed to leave and has not, is not a current or former tenant under a rental agreement the owner authorized, is not an owner or an immediate family member of the owner, and there is no pending litigation between the owner and the occupant about the property. Once the complaint is verified, the sheriff serves notice and may remove the occupants, and the owner may change the locks. The sheriff charges a processing fee and may charge an hourly rate to stand by. An owner who wrongfully removes someone can be ordered to restore possession and to pay actual damages, statutory damages equal to triple the fair market rent, court costs and attorney fees. The statute has been amended since it passed; get the current complaint form and instructions from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
Squatter or tenant: why the distinction matters
The fast remedy is for people who never had a right to be there. A person who was ever your tenant, who paid you rent, or who was let in by a tenant and stayed is generally not covered. Tenants go through eviction in Pinellas County Court; a guest who was never a tenant may require an unlawful detainer action; someone claiming an ownership interest may require ejectment. Each involves a filing and a writ of possession, and an uncontested case can end by default without a hearing. The hard cases are in between: an occupant who claims a lease you have never seen, or a relative of a deceased owner who moved in without the estate's permission. Getting the category wrong can expose the owner to liability. Whichever path applies, we take it over after closing and sort it out with counsel where needed.
What to do and not do while you decide
Do document everything: photographs from the street, dates, the neighbor's account, any police report. Do notify the Clearwater Police Department and ask for a report, which supports the sworn complaint. Do not shut off utilities, remove doors, change locks while occupants are inside or confront them; Florida's self-help prohibitions still apply to anyone who might be a tenant, and the sheriff's process exists so that owners do not have to take those risks. Do not accept money from the occupants, which can create a tenancy. If you intend to sell, you may skip the whole process: we buy the house occupied, and after closing we pursue whichever removal procedure the facts and the law permit.
Pricing a house you cannot enter
A squatted house usually cannot be inspected inside. We price from the exterior, from your knowledge of the house before the occupation, from the age and type of the structure, and from an assumption of significant interior damage, since unauthorized occupancy can produce it: stripped fixtures, damaged plumbing and wiring, trash, animals. We explain the assumptions behind the number. The written offer is conservative where the information is thin and has no inspection contingency, so what we find after the occupants are out does not come back to you. If the city has posted the house or opened a code case over its condition, we take over compliance after closing and any recorded code lien is settled on the settlement statement.
Squatters in estates and absentee-owned houses
Many occupied houses belong to estates or to owners elsewhere, which is why they were empty. If the owner has died and the house did not pass outside probate, the family generally needs the Sixth Judicial Circuit's authority before anyone can sell or act as the owner's agent for the sheriff's complaint; who that is depends on the title, the will and whether the home was a protected homestead, and an estate attorney confirms it. We sign a contract with the prospective personal representative or the heirs, contingent on the court's authority, coordinate with the family's probate attorney on the sequence, and close as soon as the court's authority to sell is in place. You do not need to travel to Clearwater; the documents are signed where you live.
How the sale runs
Send the address, how long the house has been empty, what you know about the occupants and whether a police report exists. We visit the exterior within a day or two, deliver a written offer within 24 hours of the visit, and open title when you accept. The Pinellas County title company closes in about a week once the search is clean, or on a later date you choose. We pay the customary closing costs, and there is no commission. At closing the occupants, the cleanup and the repairs become our responsibility going forward; a sale does not undo anything that happened before it, which is one more reason not to attempt a removal yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell my Clearwater house while squatters are living in it?
Yes. We buy it as-is with the occupants inside and take over the removal, cleanup and repairs after closing.
Do I have to go through an eviction to remove squatters in Florida?
Not if they qualify as unauthorized occupants under the 2024 law: a sworn complaint to the Pinellas County Sheriff can lead to removal without a court eviction. Anyone who was ever a tenant goes through the eviction process instead.
The occupants showed the police a lease. What now?
A forged or unauthorized lease does not create a tenancy, but it complicates the sheriff's process and may require court action. We sort out which path applies after closing, with counsel where needed.
Should I turn off the utilities or change the locks?
No. Self-help removal can create liability if the occupant turns out to have tenant status. Document, report to the police, and let the sheriff's process or a sale handle it.
The house was my late father's and squatters moved in before probate. Who can act?
Generally the personal representative, or the heirs under a summary administration order, once the court's authority is in place; estate counsel and the title company confirm who owns the house and whose signatures are needed, and the sheriff separately verifies the authority of whoever files the complaint. We can discuss an offer while that is being established.