Hmmm.
Squatters in Texas Town Use Arcane Law to Claim Vacant Homes
In this case, a rather unusual definition of vacant: the actual homeowner in one case went away for a few months for chemotherapy, in another, was away for a few months for work. These were not abandoned homes, or home that had been left empty for years.
This being Texas, a few things come to mind: Castle Doctrine, and the fact that neighbors can use deadly force to protect each others property.
So… from a purely legal standpoint, couldn’t a homeowner bust into their own home and frogmarch the squatters out, and if they resit, simply plug ’em (and if the homeowner is away, or, as in one case, in seriously poor health, couldn’t the neighbors or homeowners association do that for them)?
This isn’t so much a question of whether such an action would be “right,” or “ethical” or “moral” (there’s no question… the answer is almost certainly “yes”), but whether that would be legal. The topic has come up before regarding the barbaric system apparently in place in Britain where squatters can move into your home while you’re away walking your dogs, but this would seem to be a dangerous thing to do in Texas.
More dangerous, of course, would be to let the squatters get away with this with their skins intact.