With a sense of urgency, gathered Wednesday to hear a number of harrowing stories from homeowners who said they lost access to their properties to “squatters.”
A directive from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the Senate’s leader, members met to initiate an inquiry into the state’s laws relating to squatters, which has become a common phrase meant to define a person who has taken adverse possession of a property without having the permission or legal ownership to do so .
The act of squatting, which in Texas law falls through the policy cracks at an intersection between criminal trespass on one end and an eviction proceeding at the other, has left homeowners with few options to regain access to their homes in a process marred by confusing legal and financial bureaucracy.
“What we’re here for quite simply is to come and take it back,” Sen said. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, opening the hearing. “Because that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to get legislation put together that will come take these properties back from squatters who have no legal or moral or ownership, or any other investment in a property.”
In to strike a balance to ensure that rights of homeowners and tenants are respected as legislators look to craft a legislative fix for the gray area, Bettencourt said the need to act quickly is trying to spurred by the fact that “people can still lose their homes to squatting in the state of Texas and that’s got to stop.”
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The Senate committee hearing lasted throughout Wednesday afternoon as many invited guests gave testimony ranging from housing industry concerns, the judiciary’s perspective and homeowner experiences.
“We have attempted to contact any pro-squatting operation that exists,” Bettencourt said. “We have not been able to find anyone willing to testify.”
When Terri Boyette began to tell her story, the temperature in the hearing room steadily rose as she described a laundry list of every homeowners’ worst nightmares. A contractor had broken into her home in Mesquite and then refused to leave, leaving a wake of damage, garbage and narcotics paraphernalia.
“As of today, 11 months later, I still don’t live in my house and can’t access it because of the damage that was done,” Boyette said.
After moving to Texas in 2021, the squatting incident took place shortly after, leaving Boyette without a place to live and forcing her to stay in Florida, where she came from for Wednesday’s hearing at the Capitol, as the situation was being resolved.
During the order, Boyette testified, she also had to maintain payments for the property’s water, utilities, home insurance, and mortgage in addition to keeping the yard trimmed to avoid a city citation.
“The person in my home is a homeless crackhead, what am I supposed to sue them for? Nothing,” Boyette said.
After seven months, Boyette’s home was finally left vacant, but not until all of her possessions and family heirlooms were sold off during a hasty yard sale, leaving her to return to a heavily damaged home with most items either taken or left destroyed.
“I’m actually afraid to move back in the house, because I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Boyette said, clearly rattled by her situation, despite her sense of humor through the hearing. “Today, he’s out walking on the street. And I’m $150,000 in debt to replace everything in my home and repair it.”
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Members of the committee sat in grave attention to the story, understanding that others in the room and people across the state have experienced the same unexpected violation of privacy.
So much so, that during the hearing Sens. Royce West, D-Dallas, and Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, both agreed that they wanted to hear more from local officials in Mesquite about their response to Boyette’s situation.
West, Hall and Boyette then left the hearing to take a phone call with city leaders to discuss the problems of handling squatters.
“It makes no sense,” West, the lone Democrat present during the committee hearing. “I’m starting to get outraged about that.”
While Patrick made the nod to bring the issue to attention via his list of interim charges he released last month, Gov. Greg Abbott has also made clear that he is in favor of clarifying and stiffening penalties tied to squatting, calling the act a violation of the law.
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“In Texas, anyone “squatting” in your home is breaking the law,” Abbott posted to X in the weeks before Patrick announced his list of legislative requests. “They are criminals violating TX laws like criminal trespass & criminal mischief (Tex. Penal Code 30.05 & 28.03). Also, the Texas Castle Doctrine empowers Texans to use force to defend themselves & their property.”
Moving forward, senators will consider adding increased penalties for squatting, making the act more comparable and adjacent to criminal trespassing, which would remove the large hurdle of squatting being viewed as a civil matter by the judiciary.
Outside of increasing penalties, senators were in lock step in discussing avenues to ensure law enforcement has a way to positively identify who actually owns or resides in a home in question, documentation requirements for proving residency, oversight of judicial and police responses in the future and creating a mechanism for homeowners to initiate a removal of a squatter despite protests.
Other states have recently implemented their own squatting laws, with fixes ranging from Louisiana’s increase in penalties that tied burglary and squatting statutes closer together to West Virginia’s move to clarify a squatter can not be considered a tenant and is therefore afforded fewer rights to stay in a location.
In Alabama, someone unauthorized to enter a property can be removed by the property owner if they provide law enforcement with a sworn affidavit detailing their ownership, with the removal of the individual mandated to occur within 24 hours.
Still months away from being able to consider a bill, Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, said the committee is seriously looking at the issue with an attempt to move quickly once the interim passes, saying whether its a single bill or an omnibus package Texas is looking to lead the way.
“I think the country will see very quickly how Texas solves this very rapidly next session to protect private property rights in the state and be the role model for how to do it across the country,” Parker said.
