Two proposed laws geared toward removing squatters from homes, and sometimes, jailing them cleared a committee hearing Thursday in Wyoming’s legislative session.
Senate File 6 would let law enforcement agents remove squatters or uninvited visitors from someone’s home.
Senate File 11 would let prosecutors charge someone with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines if the person used a fake deed or lease agreement to claim someone else’s home.
They both cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee by a unanimous vote Thursday and are headed to the Wyoming Senate Floor for discussion and votes by the whole chamber.
Because Of Her
State Sen. Jim Anderson, R-Casper, told the committee he sponsored SF6 because a constituent came to him after several men invaded a property she intended to clean up and put on the market.
She startled these men when she went to clean the house, and they in turn startled her. Intimidated and scared, the woman turned to law enforcement for help, but was told squatting is a civil issue, Anderson related.
“This bill is trying … to make it a criminal case,” he said.
The woman was later able to get the men out of the home, but they left it damaged, the woman, Ronna Boril, told Cowboy State Daily at the time.
Go For It, Say Realtors
The bill is modeled after Florida legislation, Anderson said.
Laurie Urbikigt, of the Wyoming Realtors Association, spoke in favor of the bill, saying she’s heard of multiple realtors encountering squatters while checking out properties.
She didn’t like a part of the bill compelling homeowners to disclose and swear to when the property was acquired, saying not everyone can remember that information or immediately find it.
The committee took that requirement out of its recommended version of bill on Thursday.
The committee also deleted some language letting police agencies recover hourly-rate wages from the homeowner for having their agents remove squatters.
Mark Miller, senior attorney for Pacific Legal Foundation and a published author on property rights, urged the committee to pass the bill. He said the part compelling homeowners to promise certain caveats before police can remove someone will help keep the process honest.
No one testified against the bill, though a lobbyist representing Wyoming law enforcement warned that agents may not always be able to take immediate action if there’s not enough legal basis for removal.
Breeze
SF11 advanced with even less effort, with the realtor and police lobbies testifying their support.
Committee Chair Sen. Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne, and Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs, both said it’s a good idea, however, for proponents to research why Wyoming’s current fraud statutes aren’t enough to punish people who try to sell others’ homes out from under them.
Deeper Dive On Senate File 6
Often when Wyoming residents call police about squatters now, police will say that’s a civil issue — which can take months to resolve, according to testimony offered Thursday in the committee.
The bill says property owners can ask police to remove squatters from their homes, if occupants aren’t current or former tenants, there’s no pending litigation over the home and the occupants aren’t family members of legal homeowners.
Homeowners would have to sign sworn affidavits agreeing to those facts. If they lie on the document they could face penalties.
Police would then? be able to remove a squatter or arrest him if necessary.
Under the bill, a squatter who presents a false lease agreement could face six years in prison and $750 in fines. A person who tries to sell a home out from underneath its rightful owner could face two years in prison and $5,000 in fines.
Squatters who knowingly destroy homeowners’ property could face up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines regardless of the property’s value. That would be a unique expansion of Wyoming’s property destruction statutes, which usually don’t carry a penalty that severe unless the property damaged is worth more than $1,000.
Roll Call
The senators voting unanimously for these bills were Olsen and Kolb, Sens. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo; Gary Crum, R-Laramie; and Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
