Wyoming Anti-Squatter Bills Close To Becoming Law

A bill meant to bolster enforcement against home squatters cleared both chambers of the Wyoming Legislature on Wednesday and, if there’s no need to compromise on its amendments, will soon go to the governor’s desk.

If it becomes law, Senate File 6 will let a homeowner ask law enforcement agents to remove a squatter from her home – if she is willing to attest that the squatter isn’t a current or former tenant, a co-owner, a family member, or her romantic partner. This police response would only be allowed if the owner is willing to promise that she’s not battling the alleged squatter over that property in court.

The Wyoming House of Representatives passed the bill back to the State Senate on Wednesday with 58 members voting in favor, three voting against and one member excused as not present for the vote.

The three nays were from half of the House’s Democratic caucus: Democratic Reps. Ken Chestek (Laramie), Karlee Provenza (Laramie) and Mike Yin (Jackson).

The other three Democrats in the state House – Reps. Trey Sherwood (Laramie), Liz Storer (Jackson) and Ivan Posey (Fort Washakie) – voted in favor of the bill, along with the 55 voting Republicans.

The Cops Aren’t Getting Rid Of Your Girlfriend

Yin brought an amendment to the bill Wednesday that the House approved unanimously. It clarified that homeowners can’t get police to remove their cohabiting boyfriends or girlfriends as squatters.

The bill already contained similar carveouts for spouses and family members.

Yin hoped that, “You can’t call the sheriff and get your girlfriend or significant other that you’re really pissed off about kicked out of the house as a squatter,” he told the House. “We want to make sure we’re handling that properly.”

Rep. Art Washut, R-Casper, agreed, saying Yin’s amendment didn’t damage the bill in any way, and people interested in the bill didn’t have any problems with that change.

Other Stuff In The Bill

If the homeowner lies about the alleged squatter or the home’s status when getting police to kick someone out of her home, she could be sued for “wrongful removal.”

The bill also bars people from offering false lease or deed documents to lay claim to a home that’s not theirs. That new crime would be punishable by up to six months in jail and $750 in fines, under the bill’s language.

The bill also says that anyone who tries to sell someone else’s home out from under her could face up to two years in prison and $5,000 in fines.

Lastly, the bill would make a new property-destruction felony, so that anyone who wreaked property destruction on a home while squatting in it could face a 10-year felony, even if they caused less damage than the usual $1,000 threshold for felony-level charging.

If the Senate approves Yin’s change to the bill, it will advance to Gov. Mark Gordon’s desk for his signature, silent passage or veto.

Those Fake Landlords

A similar bill, Senate File 11, is now pending in the House. Its focus isn't on squatters, but on fake landlords.

It passed the House Judiciary Committee with unanimous approval Friday.

If it becomes law, SF 11 will add a new felony to Wyoming’s fraud laws so that a person who intentionally uses a false document to gain property or a right to that property could face up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

Allen Thompson, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, told the committee on Friday that this can be a real issue.  

“We have those cases where a third party on Craigslist or other social media takes a Zillow photo and rents a house remotely, that’s not theirs and not for rent,” he said. “Sends that person a lease agreement and cops do show up at that house in response to a trespasser – and there’s a guy in there with his family with a lease agreement that says ‘I really thought I should be here.’ So that person is another victim of this crime.”

But the wording in the bill protects a victim like that, because it says someone is only guilty of the felony if he “knows or reasonably should know” that his deed or lease agreement is false, Thompson noted.

The bill “covers another facet of fraud we see with rental properties and is another road map for law enforcement,” he added.

SF 11 must next survive three readings in the House, any concurrence from the Senate and the governor’s desk to become law.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.