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pay by donof1on(the average pamphlet. costs So cents to prodJce)free to those w H h fYJ cha c--"'-----I

Squatters HandbooklIPO LIT ICAL " SQUATTING T IPS

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Contents::2 , 1 om Not Jails Because FOO]) is ItRIGHT Dot a . privilege!Because, there is enough food for everyone to eat!

Because SCARCITY is a LI l!Because a woman should not have to u e her body tu get ameal,

or to have a place to sleeplBecause when we arc hungry orhomeless wehave the IUGHT to get

what we need by panning, bnsking or squatting!Because POVERTY is a form of VIOLENCE not necessary or

natural!Because capitalism makes food a source of profit

not a source of nutrition!Because 'Food Grows 011 Trees.

Because we need COMMUNITY not CONTROL!Because we need HOMES not JAILS!Because we need ..

4. S qu atters I a nd bo ok13. Squatting Tip

F or m o re in fo g et to www .s qua t.n tL ibraries have com puters yo u can use tose arch the m tem et, Iib ra ria ns a re ve ryhelpful, andit's f ree . . .

FOOD NOT BOMBS

THE NEXT MOVEIS YOURS

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II'1I

O ur cause w as just--ho mes fo r all, B ut o ur revers io n to "chain o fco mma nd ". a nd o ur lac k o f " no n-v io len t d iscip lin e" h elp edreinfo rce s te re oty pes ab ou t ac tiv ists a nd h om eles s p eo ple . A ndHornefrontlost it 's co mm ittm ent to direct actio n, flo undered fo r aw hile, then died ..A pply the lessons of our failure, and Boston H om es N ot Ja ils m aybe around to do good work for decades to com e. You m ay want totailo r the se g uide lin es fo r y our sp ec ific n eed s. Io pe th eses ug ge st io n s h el p.T om B ola ndH om ele ss O rg an ize rs ' S upp ort T eam

. . . . . J'.:. ~

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Homes Not JailsH om es N ot Jails is an autonom ous group of in div id ua ls w ho sem iss io n is to end ho rnelessness and to -abo lish the prison industrialcomplex' ', . .T he first H NJ chapter sta rted in San Fragcisco to advocate for theuse of abandoned vacant housing fo r peop le expe ri en c inghornelessness.Hom es Not Jails ho lds tha t housing is a hum an right tha t faro ut we ig hs d ev elo pe rs ', la nd lo rd s', a nd re al e st at e s pe cu la to rs '"rights" to pro fit. H NJ takes abando ned buildings bo th publiclya nd co vertly to ad dres s th e gro win g c risis o f h om ele ssa ess .R eco gnizing that o ur go vernm ent w ould be reluctant to utilizevacant buildings fo r peo ple w ho need ho using- and reco gnizingtha t people need housing now - H N] also . s eeks to support coverts qu at tin g in a ba nd on ed b uild in gs .H N] em ploys a variety of tactics to brin g lig ht to the co nn ec tio nb etw ee n th e gro wing p riso n in dus trial co m plex and increasingpoverty and hom elessness. .In m any cities , gentrifica tio n is pushing lo w and no -incom e peo pleo ut o f their cotnmun ities . L ow er-in co m e area s o f cities are a llo wedto decay fo r years thro ugh redlining and city neglect, crea tingthousand of abandoned units of housing, and then are graduallyre dev elo ped fo r m idd le a nd u ppe r-in co m e pe op le .G ov ern men t p olicie s a ctu ally en co urag e w eal th y re al e statespecula to rs to sit on em pty buildings w aiting for property values torise, w hile peo ple sleep o n the streets ..U S H ousing and U rbanD evelopm ent, w hich auctions off thousands of vacant buildings a tmarket-rate, actually spends m illio ns m aintaining a sto ck o f vacantbuildings; even hea ting them in the w inter to prevent pipes fromfreezing

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Homes Not Jails believes that we can-and we must confront thepolicies that keep poor people homeless, starving, and strugglingwhile banks, developers, and landlords continue to profit. The timefor action is now. As many organizers have said before us: "Youonly get what you're organized to take!"

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People who are high or agitated at your actions will undercut yourcredibility with the public who can.helpwin your demands. If yousee someone with drugs or alcohol, ask them to take it off the site--first time, every time. Fighting drunks will discredit your actionsquickly.9) GET ADVICE AND SUPPORT FROM THE ACLU ANDAND OTHER CIVIL IUGHTS GROUPSCivil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the state chapter ofAmerican Civil Liberties Union, defended Homefront arrestees.CLUM also has fought anti-panhandling laws in Cambridge. Youmay want to seek their support if arrests occur.Another group that comes to mind is National Law Center onHomelessness and Poverty (which works closely with NationalCoalition for the Homesless). The Law Center recently published areport on police harrassment of homeless people, titled MEANSWEEPS. (Read about it on the NCH web site.)10) HAVE SQUATTING 'SUPPLIES ON SITE AND~ARBY

,If you manage to hold a building, authorities may try to starve youout. So have water, blankets, food, soap and buckets for humanwaste inside--before you publicly announce your site.

Also have cell phones inside, so that you can have contact withsupporters outside. Don't forget musical instruments to celebrateyour struggle-saud to a~company you as you sing "We Shall NotBe Moved".Hundreds of people participated in Boston's HOMRFRONT '88 yetour gains were largely nullified by drinking and drugging on siteand by public quarrels (including fistfights) among would-be"leaders".

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") 1 5) CREATE 'LEGAL SUPPORT" ROLES FOR THOSE WHOCHOOSE NOT TO BE ARRESTED " '...,.. ,JN ever guilt-trip tho se w ho m ay no t w ant to do civil diso bedience.M ake sure they are in a spo t where they w ill no t be arres ted.

I, H elp them cho ose legal suppo rt tasks, T hese include m eetings,transport, materials, cash, outreach, publicity a nd le ga l help-itonam e but a few .

-t"," 6) MAKE YOUR SPOKESPEOPLE THOSE M OST AFFECTED -

-HO JV lELESS PEOPLEI th in k it's a fo rm o f " do me stic co lo nialism " when n on -p oo r p eo plespeak fo r the po or, even w hen "pro gress ives" do it .W hen actio nssho w signs o f success, po lit icians and services pro viders o ften tryto take contro l, take credit and take any resources you w in (such ash ou sin g an d c as h).,'. .H om eless peoples ' a im s get lost in such shuffles-vas w ell as them ateria ls to survive and thrive tha t hom eless people deserve, 'C ho ose yo ur a llies carefully, and let ho meless peo ple speak fo rourselves. '7) MAKE D EMAND S IHA T LINK THE KEY ISSUES--FREESPEECH, HOMES FOR ALL, W AGE-RENT SLAVERYB e re alist ic. D e ma nd th e im po ss ib le . W ha t is " po lit ic ally fea sa ble''today is far short o f w hat people need and deserve. Accept nosubstitu tes .. Yo u m ay get w hat.yo u ask fo r= so ask fo r everything.8) \vlD EL Y PUBLICIZE AND ENFORCE A BAN ON ALLALCOHOL AND D RUGS ON SITE

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Squatters HandbookIntro

A group of people concem ed w ith the everyday survival and basicneeds of people in our com munity have put this bo ok to gether. T hegroupis cal1ed 'Self H elp H ousing'. T hrough this booklet w e hopeto provide m uch needed rea list ic inform ation to people tha t need it .

W e advo ca te o ccupant co ntro lled ho usingW e believe that everyone has aright to a hom eWe see the present sys tem of housing as creating homelessnessand high rents because it is based on profit and p ro pe rty N OTpeopleA ll la nd in C anada is s to len land from the A borigina l peopleW e believe tha t governm ents in an their form s hinder a rea1so lution to the problem ofbousing the w orld 's peopleW e aim to crea te an a tm osphere w here people have equaldecisio n m aking po wers. W e m ake decis io ns by co nsensusWhy squat?

H ousing is a basic right for everybody. H ouses should ' no t beem pty w hile there are people w ithout hom es to live in. People areliving w ithout electricity, ho t w ater and food in order to pay hugerents that 'the m arket' dem ands, m uch to the delight ofunscrupulo us pro perty o wners and esta te agents.

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Tenancy with a signed lease doesn't actually provide much moresecurity than squatting, though gives a-legal recognition to th eoccupant. Tenancy laws generally though are there to protect thepr perry o wners, N OT the t en an ts , n ec es sa ri ly . L a nd own ersarbitrarily raise rents an d many a tenant knows the possibility ofmaintenance and repairs from most. landowners and estate agents.Real Estate agents discriminate against single parents, young, old,low-income earners a nd a ny on e who isn't pretty well capable ofactually buying a house. .Chances of finding acceptable and affordable housing on theprivate market is nearly impossible, the waiting list on publichousing l ists are years long and g ov ernme nt s up po rt for publichousing i s v i rt ual ly nothing. People already occupy run do wndilapidated houses due to having nowhere else to go . ..Squatters have very little legal recognition and the only waysquatters can generally keep their houses is to help each other an dbe organized and seek support. Such support is essential toorganize repairs and to resist harassment an d evictions byla nd own er s immedia te ly . Iti s impo rt an t not to be intimidated orbluffed into leaving your home before you have fought to staythere. !iIWho o";"osempties?

Govemment departments own empty hou .es, due tom anagem ent and bureaucratic delays many ho uses c an rem ainem pty fo r many years. Private developers ke~p houses empty sothat they ca n make a fast buck, or maintain the 'market rent' bylimiting the available housing. Greedy indi viduals own houses thatare left empty because they don't need them to live in.

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Nowadays, the Internet is an excellent 1ink to other squatters in aworld where over a billion people are houseless--even in wealthynations. Homes Not Jails homepage is a good place to start yoursearch.Educate yourselves on the issues. Use the Internet.3) GIVE EVERY PARTICIPANT AN IiEVICTION ALERTPHONETREE'!The list shou'ld include contact phone numbers for the news desksof alternative and mainstream media-- local TV, newspapers andradio, plus wire services such as United Press and Reuters. Don'tforget college papers an d radio stations.Also include 'contact numbers for supporters to mobilize quickly ifarrests occur. Perhaps you can find progressive members of CityCouncil, clergy or other "notables" to promise to be arrested if youare "evicted" from the site.But make sure they do not ' take over and co-opt your aims. (Formore on this, see point 6.)4) REQUIRE NON~VIOLENT CIVil., DISOBEDIENCETRAINING OF ALL W HO Iv1IGHT RISK ARREST

10help as ure public support, you'll need to make sure there aren o t hre ats , s cre am in g o r fi.g hts th at o ffic ia ls or the m edia m ight useto deflect attention from the validity of your issues. Role-play al lpossible outcomes. There are fine non-violence trainers nearBoston, especially among the Quakers. You may want to contactlocal Friends' M etings and the American Friends ServiceCommittee. .

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"POLITICAL" SQUATTING TIPS (fr:.omTom Boland), , The advice below is not a consensed document of Homes Not Jails.

It's my personal advice. I'm a Homes Not Jails supporter and apacifist anti-poverty activist who spent two years homeless.The advice below is based mainly on the failures of a three-monthencampment fo r affordable housing inBoston in 1~88) called .HOMEFRONT '88. The encampment, mainly outside Boston CityHall, ended with a building takeover.There were a number of arrests fo r our non-violent protest, andmuch publicity. I t hin k we'd have won much more if weld followedthese guidelines:1)BRING CAMCORDERS, TAPE RECORDERS, CMvIERAS,NOTEPADS AND PRESS PASSESThis will help deter police harrassment and, if it occurs, provideyou with a record of it. It will also help ~ou to document and .celebrate any victories in gaining your alms.Ifyou are journalist, bring your press pass: ~tcan help you getaccess to sites and information that authorities are trying to keepfrom the public eye. It's amazing how humanely officials cab:actwhen they know that others are watching.2) STAY IN CONSTANT TOUCH WITH SQUATTERSWORLDWIDEThis cross-fertlizes strageties and helps you decide what m~y.workor not locally. Italso builds morale, especially when authorities aretrying to discredit you and threaten arrests to scare off supporters.

Government housesProperties owned by public authorities (such as the RTA DOHEducation Dept, SRA etc - yes many of hese different public '?odies 0:vn quite a lot-of property in various locations and mayinclude hvable houses that are left unoccupied for years) will generally require some level of negotiation, unless in the rare case theyhave been completely forgotten about. The time to negotiate mayvary, but when you ar e discovered and requested to leave then anapproach to a level of the administration responsible for propertiescan not do any harm, question the representative about who isresponsible fo r making decisions about the property and approachthen directly if necessary, by phone or in person with a friend ortwo.

Privately owned housesPrivately owned houses may be left empty for a number of reasons.A deceased estate may have no living relatives or interestedparties, or they may be willing to allow you to 'look after' thehouse. Deceased estates where there are no living relatives areadministered by the Public Trustees office, and it may take manyyears for the fate of the property to be settled.Generally private owners will ask you personally to leave or callthe police and get them to remove you if necessary. Quite often thecase is that no charges will be laid ifthere is resistance orantagonism.Quite often the first contact with anyone will be the neighbors,who will eventually have to contend with anyway, it's worthwhileto present yourself as honestly and openly as.possible.How do I do it?

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Finding empty houses is generally pretty easy, an unkempt look,mail oozing out of the mailbox, overgrown garden, power off(check the electricity meter to see if the powers on), brokenwindows and doors etc. You should always knock on the doorbefore entering or when checking out a house. Sometimes oldpeople are living in their home without electricity in rundownstates.

Talk to the media aboutthe situation; though be careful, as themedia may not portray yOU and the'issue in a favorable lightUtilize alternative media, local papers notice boards etc.

Take a closer look inside and out, is there thick dust inside? noobvious signs of occupation? check how many rooms the househas, are any floorboards missing? check the overall structure of theplace; are the gas and electricity meters still there? You need toknow what to bring back to secure the house and fix it up ifnecessary.

If you resist or are violent or abusive y?~ ' W i l l ~ost likely facemore severe charges (and larger fines) If the police have to removeyou. Itis obviously best to talk with the police and any otherrepresentatives of the owner outside the house, have someoneoutside to talk with the police ifnecessary. If you are aITe~tedy~uwill be taken to the police station, your name and fingerpnnts WIllbe taken and you will probably be released quite quickly.

Itis important to find out who owns the property so you are awareof the owners as the neighbors are and so you'll know who you canspeak to, to negotiate if necessary. Only the owner or the agent ofthe owner (which can, but isn't necessarily the police) can legallyevict you or ask you to leave, not the.neighbors or the policewithout direction from the owner. The police may take it uponthemselves to act against people they know to be occupyingproperty without the owners' permission, this may be illegal, butby then you're generally out of the house and looking forsomewhere else.Find out as much as you can about the house. The land titles officeis another way to find out who owns property. The systemthere may seem mind-boggling but it provides information onrecent transactions and proposed development plans. T he staffthere are quite helpful and you can't be denied access to theinformation, though maybe have to pay for more detailedinformation.

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Essent ially you have no rights as a squatter but if you ar ethrea tened w ith evictio n there are things yo u do t o p o st po n eeviction or e ve n n eg o ti at e a s et tle m en t t ha t means yo u ca n s tay.O nly the o wner or th e re pre sen ta tiv e o f the ow ner has the legalrig ht to evict you, s o d on 't b e in tim id at ed by the cops or neighborsw ith ou t ch ec king ..It 's im po rta nt to try a nd ta lk to th e 'e vic to rs;evictio ns have been sto pped a t the last m om ent. Quite o fte n y ouwill be told lies as to the history and future plans for t he h o us es ,dem olition, renovation etc, o r at least the truth is bent in a n e ff or tto get you to leave.If you are asked by the owner, or an agent of the owner (who m aybe the police) to leave an d you don't, then you ca n be arrested fO Ttrespa ss under the E nclo sed L ands A ct.T hings yo u can do to resist eviction include:

C ontact your local squa tters group (or sta rt your own) forsupport.G et friends and o ther squatters to com e around when eviction isd ue) p eo ple sho win g su pp ort c an sta ll ev ic tio n.Leaflet o r d oo rk no ck th e s ur ro u nd in g h o us es , try to ge t SOIDelo ca l co mmu nity su pp ort.For public a uth orities v isiting , a nd pe rh aps p ro te stin g o utsid eof, the offices of the organization can som etim es cause them toback down from evictions ..Barricade yourself in. This can how ever be dangerous to yourhealth, as the cops are genera lly m ore 'pissed-off when they getin and arrest is m uch m ore likely, the police m ay take m anydays to evict a heavily ba rricaded squa t.II

G etting in is genera lly quite easy, often broken w indow s or doorsp re vio us ly f orc ed by other visito rs pro vide access. V andalism iso ften an indicat io n o f va ca nt ho uses, t h e local kids m aybe use thep la ce, th is m a kes it easy to w alk right in (besides being a grea targument for peo ple living in houses ra ther than leaving themem pty). D uring the da y on a weekday is actually the best tim e tocheck out houses, less conspicuous and you can se e more ..It 's b es tto just go for a look first w ithout any to ols o r a nything that m ightjustify a break and enter. A s long as you don't dam age any par t ofthe pro perty it 's o k, if you do then leave and return at a : la ter tim e ifok. It's not always good to have too ls such a s c rowba rs lyingaround as the police m ay try to charge som eone for breaking andentering.It c a n som etim es take quite som etim e for ow ners to realize thatanyone is occupying the b ouse a ny th in g from a few hours to a da y

, to a few weeks even. This tim e should be used for getting thehouse together, fixing things up, checking the wiring and w ater etc.It 's a good idea to get services such as electricity and gas on asquickly as possible, so you can cook and m aintain a life a t yournew ho me. Try to keep the house occupied constantly for the firstfew days and weeks or until you com e to som e agreement overrem aining there with the owner. G et support from othersquatters, friends and o thers in the lo cal a rea .

If after a few weeks you're still there and have beard no thing fromthe ow ners you can start to get a bit m ore com fortable, it i s h ar de rto evict w ell established households than people who appear to bejustusing the place to crash in. F irst thing to do is change the locksand secure the house. M ost barrel locks are easily replaced with afew to ols (screw driver, hacksaw , pliers etc) and are available fro mhardware shops. D eadlocks m ay have to sawn off and replacedto tally, these cost m ore but are m ore secure. D oors or w indow sthat can't. be im mediately repaired can have wood or board nailedo n them to provide tem porary security.

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