The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee advanced legislation Thursday to allow for the faster removal of unwanted squatters from homes.

The bill aims to simplify the eviction process for people who illegally occupy properties without the owner’s permission.

State Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, believes the bill not only helps law enforcement take action, but also protects property rights and the ability of an owner “to get someone off a property where they’re not supposed to be,” he said.

The bill passed by a vote of 10 to 4.

Landen and Sen. Dan Furphy, R-Laramie; Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston; Cale Case, R-Lander; and Ed Cooper, R-Thermopolis; and Reps. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo; Art Washut, R-Casper; Ember Oakley, R-Riverton; Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody; and Tony Niemec, R-Green River, voted in favor of the bill.

Reps. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie; Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie; Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland; and Mark Jennings, R-Sheridan, voted against.

What he does

A squatter is generally considered a person who moves into a property without any claim or legal title. Squatters have no rights in Wyoming.

The bill would only apply to squatters and not former tenants.

It allows landlords to request assistance from law enforcement to evict unauthorized occupants from inside a residential property. It also prohibits the illegal use of false property documents and increases the offense level for destruction and damage to property.

Landlords or anyone working on their behalf can ask local law enforcement to immediately evict anyone illegally occupying their home if the person being evicted is still there.

To seek immediate eviction of an unauthorized person occupying a residential property, the landlord must file a complaint stating the date the property was purchased and stating that a person illegally occupied the property and was asked to leave.

Upon receipt of the complaint, the police will verify that the person who filed it is indeed the owner and will notify that the squatters immediately vacate the accommodation.

The officer must also attempt to verify the identity of all persons in the residential dwelling and may arrest any person there for trespassing, outstanding warrant, or other lawful cause. A stipulation made by Provenza that a squatter has 72 hours to vacate the property was rejected by the committee.

The bill also provides that any person who knowingly presents a false document purporting to be a valid rental agreement, deed or other instrument conferring real property rights shall be guilty of an offense punishable by imprisonment of a maximum duration of six months, a fine not exceeding $750, or both.

Likewise, any person who offers for sale or advertises residential property for sale knowing that the purported seller has no legal title or authority to sell the property, or who rents or leases the property to another person knowing that she has no ownership or leasehold rights over the property. property, will be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to two years and/or a fine not exceeding $5,000.

Wyoming problem

Casper has become a squatting hotspot in recent years.

In September, Casper Realtor Ronna Boril shared a story with the committee on the impact of squatters on his life.

Boril had been renting a house to a man and his wife for about six months before leaving the property.

The tenant informed Boril that he had already left for Wisconsin, but that the house would be repaired and cleaned. About three weeks later, she went to the property and discovered the house was occupied by strangers who had verbally accosted her for her presence.

A man told Boril it wasn’t his property and that they had signed a lease and given money to someone they thought was the owner. Boril informed them that they were trespassing and that they needed to leave the property immediately.

“It was a tense moment,” she said.

Boril said members of the local sheriff’s office and police department told him there was nothing they could do to evict the men because they had no legal authority. They told Boril she would have to file a complaint for burglary and detention.

When she returned home the next day, the men were gone, but the place was trashed. Filthy mattresses littered the floor, along with drug paraphernalia, clothing and trash scattered everywhere.

New criminal option

The current Wyoming property destruction charge depends on whether damage of $1,000 or more was caused to determine whether it is considered a crime or not.

The bill also establishes a new criminal option for property destruction of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if a person unlawfully detains, occupies or enters property and knowingly defaces, injures or destroys property, regardless of the cost of restoring the injured. property or the value of the property if it is destroyed.

Landen wondered whether it would make him liable for a crime if he tiptoed through a neighbor’s tulip field, which it would not since the law only applies to interior of a home.

Provenza explained that people with legitimate mental health issues could be jailed due to the increase in charges.

“Talk about kicking people when they’re down,” she said.

Case disagreed, saying that any time someone squats in another person’s home, it creates a dangerous situation.

Some shortcomings

The bill provides new guidance for police chiefs and county sheriffs, which Allen Thompson, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, praised as giving a clearer guide to officers charged of law enforcement to eliminate squatters.

But he also said the bill still lacks a provision stipulating an investigation to establish probable cause.

Chestek voted against the bill, saying it places law enforcement officers in the position of “judge, jury and executioner.”

“There are still laws (now) that I think are sufficient and these remedies incorporate due process and a real process deciding who has and who does not have rights,” he said. “I don’t like to leave it up to law enforcement to make the decision as to whether someone has the right or not.”

Provenza called the legislation “confusing to say the least” and said law enforcement already has the mechanism for charging trespassing and eviction.

“Hell, it used to mean a bill wasn’t ready for prime time, and that’s certainly not the case now,” she said.

Thompson said he was concerned about a clause in the bill that states there cannot be ongoing litigation related to residential housing where squatting is occurring. Thompson said it’s not always easier to determine whether a civil action is pending. It’s also sometimes difficult, he said, to verify ownership of a property.

Crago said this obstacle could be alleviated by putting the onus on the owner to prove ownership. He also managed to pass an amendment on this document, affirming that the dispute must be “known”.

Thompson said it typically takes two to three months to evict someone who was previously a legal tenant in Wyoming, but evicting someone who entered a home without prior agreement is much quicker.

Converse County Sheriff Clint Becker added that law enforcement now no longer gets involved in forcibly evicting a tenant from a property until they receive a court order to do it.

Evansville Police Chief Mike Thompson discussed an ambiguous situation in which homeless people set up a tent near a John Deere dealership in his community. If the final bill is limited to residential housing, he said he was concerned about the frustration of commercial businesses excluded from the new squatters law.

Mason Teague, a law student at the University of Wyoming, said the bill as written is too broad and could be applied in a way that falls outside the intended scope of the legislation.

He explained that if a tenant remained in the property after a lease expired, such as a new landlord taking over the property, they could be immediately forcibly evicted under the legislation rather than going through the process of traditional expulsion.

Oakley clarified, however, that the bill does not address evictions or tenant laws.

“They’re not tenants,” she said of the squatters.

Fraudulent documents

The committee also adopted legislation establishing an offense for using fraudulent documents to acquire or remain in possession of property in Wyoming.

Washut wondered what the bill does that Wyoming’s counterfeiting and theft laws don’t already cover.

Thompson said sheriffs support the bill, and while they’re not sure it adds power to combat these crimes, it makes current laws clearer.

“I don’t think it does any harm to describe it in these circumstances,” he said.

The bill passed 8-5.

Crago, Landen, Niemec, Case, Washut, Schuler, Oakley and Cooper voted in favor of the bill. Furphy, Chestek, Rodriguez-Williams, Provenza and Jennings voted against.

Leo Wolfson can be reached at [email protected].