Do squatters have more protections than legal homeowners?

Well, I think the legal implications of private property ownership are fundamental to how our society is set up in America. It’s certainly not equitable but I don’t think that “predatory capital in housing” is a basis to allow unlawful and often destructive possession when contested by the owner. I’d prefer other mechanisms to address the ills of predatory investment in housing.
That type of capitalism likes a laissez faire attitude- let us do whatever, then the market (but really the government) can fix the problems we allowed to happen
This winds up costing the ‘innocent’ piles of money while rewarding the problem makers and ‘fixers’
This is fine for widgets, it really sucks for housing, food, medicine/health, industrial waste, education, art, et al

More equitable (progressive) policies would address basic needs first and THEN let capital carve out whatever additional duckers they care to

In theory we have guardrails to protect against monopolies for this reason
In theory