Squatter Prevention for Vacation Rentals: State-by-State Guide

It doesn't require a lease. It doesn't require an agreement. In most US states, a guest becomes a tenant — with full eviction protections — based on how long they've stayed. Courts look at length of occupancy, whether they received mail at the address, and whether they treated the property as their primary residence. Once classified as a tenant, you can't ask them to leave. You can't change the locks. You can't shut off the water. You file paperwork with the court and wait weeks to months while they live in your property, damage it, or both. That's the legal reality in all 50 states.

Florida: 7 days — the shortest in the US. A standard week-long vacation booking already brushes this line. If your guest stays one extra night in Florida, you may need a lawyer. Connecticut: 28 days. California, New York, Texas, and most states: 30 days. These are the days after which a court may grant your guest tenant status. Some states go further — receiving mail, registering to vote, or setting up utility accounts in their name can accelerate the timeline. Every host with a property in Florida needs to understand: your 7-night booking is already at the edge. There is no margin for error.

Individually, these are innocent. Together, they're a countdown: Requests to extend the stay, especially as they approach the threshold. Amazon packages or mail arriving at your address in their name. Changes to the property — new furniture, personal items in every room, their own locks. Refusal to confirm a checkout date. Casual mention of tenant rights or local housing laws. A local address on their booking profile — why is someone local renting your property? The hosts who catch squatters early aren't more suspicious. They're more attentive. They have systems that flag when a stay crosses day 25, day 28, day 30 — automatically, before the threshold arrives.

Prevention: a few minutes of booking agreement setup + automatic stay monitoring. Total cost: near zero. Eviction: $5,000-$20,000 in legal fees. Weeks to months of court proceedings. Zero rental income during the entire process. Potential property damage with no recourse until they're out. For hosts in Florida, a single missed checkout on a 7-day booking can trigger this entire chain. For hosts in 30-day-threshold states, one casual extension approval — "sure, stay a few extra days" — can push you past the line. The hosts who sleep through the night know their threshold, monitor every stay, and act on warning signs immediately. Not after they're sure. Immediately.

If a guest has crossed your state's threshold and refuses to leave, your options are narrow but real: (1) Do NOT attempt self-help eviction — changing locks, shutting off utilities, or removing belongings is illegal in most states. Courts will penalize you, even though the guest is the one overstaying. (2) Contact a landlord-tenant attorney in your specific state today. Not tomorrow. Not after the weekend. Today. (3) Gather every document: original booking agreement, payment records, all communication, any evidence of when the guest started treating the property as their home. (4) Begin formal eviction proceedings through the courts. (5) Document every interaction from this point forward — calmly, professionally, with timestamps. Everything becomes potential evidence.