TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Squatters living in Club Orient Chalets

I was on the island in June 2018 and witnessed two squatters living in chalets behind Papagayo ruins. I reported it to an owner on the beach and warned him about squatters rights. French Law you can not forcibly remove squatters without a court order.

Only if you happen to have discovered their presence on the property within 48 hours of entry have you been entitled to call upon the assistance of the local police/gendarmes to secure their immediate removal from the property.

https://www.french-property.com/news/french_property/squatters_eviction/

In France there are new Laws but only for property if it is your principal residence, not your second home.

If it does not apply, then second home owners will continue to be required to obtain a court order, unless they are able to act within 48 hours.

It is a process that is long and expensive, requiring the use of a huissier as well as legal representation.

We saw only one person living adrift at the southern end of orient in July. I don't think this is an issue of concern at the moment. It is unlikely to become a squatters paradise because the location is remote, there is little left of the remainig units to squat in, and the property is fenced off. Squatters rules may not apply as Club Orient is a business property regardless of home ownership rules.

Au contraire... The owners would say the opposite and claim they own their chalets and the resort is the common grounds making up the resort. The owners are in dispute because some owners want to rebuild their chalets and not be part of the resort which they can do. The fence is hardly a fence to keep out squatters and it was squatters rights that gave Pedro his place on Club Orient property. Perch lite is a squatters building and if the group who built it and run the business out of it wanted to they could give CO a hard time when time came to remove it. I am not saying that would ever happen but the Law is very interesting and not being a Lawyer it would be something I would look into if I owned a chalet on the French side.