The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee passed legislation Thursday that would allow for more rapid removal of unwanted squats from people’s homes.

draft bill It aims to simplify the process of removing people who occupy properties illegally 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 owner’s ability to “remove someone from their location.” “It shouldn’t happen,” 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 to support the bill.

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

What is it for?

A squatter is generally considered to be someone who settles in a property without any legal claim or title. In Wyoming, slum dwellers have no rights.

The bill will only apply to slum dwellers and not to former rental tenants.

Authorizes property owners to request assistance from law enforcement to remove unauthorized occupants of a residential property. It also prohibits the illegal use of false property documents and increases the level of offenses against property damage and falsification.

Property owners, or a person working on their behalf, may request local law enforcement to immediately remove any person unlawfully occupying their residential premises if the person requested to be removed is still present.

To request the immediate removal of a person occupying a dwelling without permission, the property owner must file a complaint that includes the date the property owner purchased the property and states that a person is unlawfully occupying the property and has been told to leave.

Upon receipt of the complaint, law enforcement will verify that the person submitting the complaint is the property owner and issue a notice to the squatters to vacate the property immediately.

The officer will also attempt to verify the identities of all persons at the residence and may arrest anyone there for trespassing, outstanding warrants, or any other lawful reason. Provenza’s requirement that squatters have 72 hours to leave 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 lease, deed, or other document conveying rights to real property shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than six months. exceeding $750 or both.

Similarly, a person who lists 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 he or she has no legal title or leasehold interest in the property. property would be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to 6 years not to exceed $5,000.

Wyoming Issue

Casper has become a popular spot for squatting in recent years.

Casper real estate agent Ronna Boril in September shared a story We shared with the committee how the slums affected 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 was going to Wisconsin but that the house would be repaired and cleaned. About three weeks later he visited the property and found the house occupied by unknown men who verbally approached him for being there.

A man there told Boril that the place did not belong to him, that they signed the lease and gave money to someone they thought owned it. Boril informed them that they were trespassing and that they must leave the property immediately.

“It was a tense moment,” he said.

Members of the local sheriff’s office and police department said they could do nothing to remove the men because they had no legal authority, Boril said. They told Boril that he should apply for forced entry and detention.

When he returned home the next day, the men were gone but the house was trashed. Filthy mattresses were strewn across the floor, along with drug paraphernalia, clothing and garbage.

New Crime Option

The current property destruction fee in Wyoming depends on whether damage of $1,000 or more was caused to determine whether it is considered a felony.

The bill also provides criminal damage to property with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if a person unlawfully detains, occupies, or trespasses on property and knowingly defaces, injures, or destroys property, regardless of the cost of repairing the injuries. It also introduces a new felony option. property or its value in the event of destruction.

Landen questioned whether if he tiptoed through a neighbor’s tulip field, that would expose him to crime; This is not the case as the law only applies to the interior of a residence.

Provenza brought up how people with legitimate mental health issues could be incarcerated on the expanded charge.

“Talk about kicking people while they’re down,” he said.

Case disagreed, saying that when someone takes up residence in another person’s home, it creates a dangerous situation.

Some Shortcomings

The bill provides new direction for police chiefs and county sheriffs; Allen Thompson, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, praised it for providing a clearer playbook for law enforcement to eliminate slums.

However, he also stated that there is still no statement in the bill that provides for an investigation to determine probable cause.

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

“(Currently) there are still laws that I think are adequate, and those solutions include due process and have a real process for deciding who has rights and who doesn’t,” he said. “I don’t like giving law enforcement the authority to decide whether someone has rights or not.”

Provenza called the law “confused at best” and said law enforcement already has the mechanism for trespass and eviction charges at their disposal.

“Wow, that used to mean a bill wasn’t ready for prime time, and now it’s definitely not ready,” he said.

Thompson expressed concern about a clause in the bill that states there cannot be any pending litigation regarding the property where the squatting occurred. Thompson said it’s not always easier to determine whether a civil case exists. He said it is also sometimes difficult to verify ownership of a property.

Crago said this obstacle could be alleviated by placing the burden on the property owner to prove ownership. He also successfully accepted an amendment to this article, saying the case needed to be “known.”

Thompson said it usually takes two to three months to remove someone who was previously a legal tenant in Wyoming, but it’s much quicker to remove someone who broke into a home without a prior agreement.

Converse County Sheriff Clint Becker added that law enforcement is no longer involved in forcibly removing a tenant from a property until a court order is obtained.

Evansville Police Chief Mike Thompson brought up an obscure situation involving homeless people setting up tents near a John Deere dealership in his area. He expressed concern that if the final bill is limited to housing, there may be disappointment that commercial businesses are excluded from the new slum law.

University of Wyoming law student Mason Teague said the bill as written is overly broad and could be applied beyond the intended scope of the legislation.

It noted that if a tenant remains in the property after the end of the lease, such as when a new owner takes over the property, they can be forcibly removed immediately under the legislation rather than through the traditional eviction process.

However, Oakley clarified that the bill is not about evictions or tenant laws.

“These are not tenants,” he said of the slum dwellers.

Fake Documents

The committee also passed legislation It is a crime in Wyoming to use false documents to acquire or retain property.

Washut questioned what the bill does, which is not already covered by Wyoming’s fraud and theft laws.

Thompson said sheriffs support the bill and say it makes existing laws clearer, although they aren’t sure it will add any power to combating these crimes.

“I don’t think it would do any harm to summarize it in those terms,” he said.

The bill passed on an 8-5 vote.

Crago, Landen, Niemec, Case, Washut, Schuler, Oakley and Cooper voted to support the bill. Furphy, Chestek, Rodriguez-Williams, Provenza and Jennings voted against it.

Leo Wolfson can be reached at [email protected].