The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee advanced legislation Thursday that would allow for the faster removal of unwanted occupants from people’s homes.

The bill is intended to simplify the process of removing people who occupy property 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 be able to act, but also protects property rights and a homeowner’s ability “to remove someone from a property where they shouldn’t be, he said.

The bill was voted 10-4.

Landen and Sens. 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 support of the bill.

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

what is he doing

A squatter is usually considered someone who settles on property without any legal claim or title. Squatters have no rights in Wyoming.

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

Authorizes property owners to request law enforcement assistance in removing unauthorized occupants from the interior of a residential property. It also prohibits the illegal use of false property documents and increases the level of offense for destruction and defacement of property.

Property owners or someone working on their behalf can ask local law enforcement to immediately remove any person trespassing on their residential property, if the person requesting removal is still there.

To request the immediate removal of an unauthorized person occupying a residential dwelling, the property owner must file a complaint that includes the date he purchased the property and states that a person illegally occupied the property and was told to leave.

Upon receiving the complaint, the law enforcement officers verify that the person who filed it is the owner and notify the occupants to vacate the home immediately.

The officer will also attempt to verify the identities of all persons in the residential dwelling and may arrest anyone there for trespassing, outstanding warrants, or any other lawful cause. A provision brought by Provenza that a squatter has 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 instrument conveying title to real property shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by with imprisonment for not more than six months, fine no. to exceed $750, or both.

Similarly, any person who lists or advertises a 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 has no legal title or leasehold interest in the property, shall be guilty of an offense punishable by imprisonment for up to two years and or a fine of up to $6,000.

The Wyoming Problem

Casper has become a hotspot for squatting in recent years.

In September, real estate agent Casper Ronna Boril shared a story with the committee about how the squatters affected his life.

Boril rented 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 the house would be repaired and cleaned. About three weeks later, she visited the property to find the home occupied by unknown men who verbally accosted her for being there.

A man there told Boril that it was not her property and that they signed a lease and gave money to someone they thought was the owner. Boril informed them that they were cheating and that they must 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 remove the men because they had no legal authority. They told Boril he would have to file a forcible entry and detainer.

When he returned to the house the next day, the men were gone, but the place was trashed. Dirty mattresses littered the floor along with drug paraphernalia, clothing, and scattered trash.

New crime option

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

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

Landen asked if that would make him liable to receive a misdemeanor if he tiptoed through a neighbor’s tulip patch, which he wouldn’t because the law only applies inside a home.

Provenza brought up how people with legitimate mental health issues can be jailed because of the expanded charge.

“Talk about kicking people while 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 direction for county police chiefs and sheriffs, which Allen Thompson, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, praised for providing a clearer manual for law enforcement officers to remove the occupants.

But he also said the bill still lacks language calling for an investigation to determine probable cause.

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

“There are still laws (now) that I think are sufficient and that these remedies incorporate due process and have a real process that decides who has and who doesn’t have rights,” he said. “I don’t like to put it up to law enforcement to decide whether or not someone has a right.”

Provenza called the legislation “confused at best” and said law enforcement already has the mechanism of trespassing and eviction charges.

“Gosh, it used to mean something that a bill wasn’t ready for primetime, and it certainly isn’t now,” she said.

Thompson expressed concern about a clause in the bill that states there can be no pending litigation related to the residential home where the squatting occurs. Thompson said that’s not always easier to determine if there are civil actions. Also sometimes difficult, he said, is verifying ownership of a property.

Crago said that hurdle could be alleviated by putting the onus on the property owner to prove ownership. He also successfully passed an amendment to this piece, saying that litigation must be “known.”

Thompson said it typically takes two to three months to remove someone who was previously a legal tenant in Wyoming, but removing someone who entered a home without prior consent is much faster.

Converse County Sheriff Clint Becker added that law enforcement is not now involved in forcibly removing a tenant from a property until they receive a court order to do so.

Evansville Police Chief Mike Thompson brought up an ambiguous situation where homeless people pitched a tent near a John Deere dealership in his community. If the final bill is limited to residential housing, he expressed concern that there could be frustration among commercial businesses that are excluded from the new squatter law.

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

He noted that if a tenant remained in the property after a lease expired, such as a new landlord taking over, they could be immediately forced out under the law, rather than the traditional eviction process that takes place.

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

“These are not tenants,” she said of the occupants.

Fraudulent documents

The commission also passed lEGISLATION establishing a crime for using fraudulent documents to obtain or remain in possession of property in Wyoming.

Washut questioned 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 any power to fight these crimes, it makes current laws clearer.

“Considering the circumstances, I don’t think it hurts,” he said.

The bill was voted 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 contacted at [email protected].