In the wasteland known as Detroit, squatters have taken over hundreds of single-family homes lost due to foreclosure.  Devoting law enforcement resources to removing them is out of the question, so the squatters stay.  They steal electricity by illegally hooking up to the grid.  Some are drug dealers who use the homes as crack houses.

But what happens when a citizen buys a property and tries to evict the squatter?  There is a "squatters rights" movement that seeks to give these leeches as much a right to possess a house as someone who owns the deed.  It was a particularly bad problem in Detroit – until the state legislature stepped in and stiffened the law dealing with "trespassers."

Three laws went into effect in Michigan on September 24, criminalizing squatting and allowing homeowners the right to remove the squatter's property without having to get an eviction notice.  They can't physically remove the squatter – that would be assault.  But as you'll see in the video below, the police are now taking an active hand in dealing with the problem.

The video shows a youg woman who bought a house at a distressed sale but found a female squatter in it with no desire to leave.  She got an attorney who served papers to no avail.

The reporter on the story – a local Detroit legend named Charlie LeDuff – got the homeowner's permission to live in the house.  What happened next is both comical and maddening.

The housing bust created these problems all across the country and some on the left are looking to take advantage if it.  The Squatters Rights movement is looking to do no less than destroy the idea of private property.  Michigan would appear to have found the correct answer for dealing with these scofflaws.