logoalt Hacker News

thewebguydyesterday at 5:04 PM1 replyview on HN

No. Unlocked door != legal entry. "Breaking" in B&E doesn't require any physical damage. Pushing open an unlocked door or entering a place without authorization counts. If I leave my home to go to the store, and leave the door unlocked and someone walks in, they are still committing a crime.

There are also no tenant protections for criminal intruders, squatter protections require a claim of right like a disputed lease or a holdover tenancy, or continuous possession over many years. Someone that just walks into a residence is an active trespasser and can be arrested for criminal trespass or burglary.


Replies

ipaddryesterday at 10:55 PM

In New York state as long as you don't open the door you can wait out 30 days which give you rights. Walking through an unlocked door isn't breaking and entering at best it's trespassing.