Violet Wilson has seen it many times. A longtime property manager in Salem, Wilson has confronted the nightmare of the squatter.
She remembers vividly one incident when a tenant moved out, turned in the keys, and his girlfriend immediately entered the house. She was not a tenant and did not have a rental agreement, but she claimed squatter’s rights. It took a long and expensive process to finally have her evicted.
What most people would clearly see as trespassing, Oregon has inadvertently put out the welcome sign to such criminal behavior due to the convoluted process for evictions in state law. Squatters by definition have no legal right to the property but if police come to evict them, they often claim they have a legal right to stay, sometimes even producing fraudulent lease papers.
Even if it is clearly obvious their claim is invalid, police will often tell the rightful owner that “it is now a legal matter” and must be settled by the court. The end result? The owners are the ones evicted from their own home and the squatter stays until the painfully slow process of the court finally leads to an eventual eviction of the squatter but often months later.
In the meantime, the owner is paying the bills, and the intruder is often trashing the home.
HB 3522 seeks to close that legal loophole by giving owners the opportunity to expedite the eviction process by including squatters under the forcible entry and detainer (FED) provisions of state law. This would allow for an expedited court hearing and allow owners to have authorities evict the intruder much faster than traditional civil case proceedings, which can take months or even years.
Under current law, the FED process does not apply to squatters, which results in a protracted process to eject the trespasser. The owner is left with a decision to forcibly remove the squatter themselves, risking physical harm, or hiring an attorney and running up legal bills just to regain access to their own property.
A squatter is not a tenant and has no rights under Oregon’s landlord-tenant laws. The legislation clarifies that there is no landlord-tenant relationship between the parties.
State Sen. Deb Patterson (D-Salem) is one of the sponsors of the bill.
“This bill protects landlords and other property owners from unauthorized use of their housing by trespassers,” she said. “It is a common-sense bill that had unanimous support in the House, and I expect strong bipartisan support in the Senate.”
Lynia Jones, a property manager in Salem, testified that she has reports almost daily on both commercial and residential properties.
“This causes a huge issue for tenants, landlords, and owners. We are not able to take the proper action needed to evict squatters and make sure they do not come back,” she said.
Rep. Annessa Hartman (D-Gladstone), also a sponsor of the bill, said she was alerted to the problem by a constituent in Gladstone who purchased a home only to find squatters living there when it came time to take possession. She observed that, because of the loophole in existing law, “squatters had greater protections than legitimate tenants.”
Charles DeSeranno has seen it firsthand. His business in Salem supplies resources to property owners, including assistance to those who are faced with squatters. The experience for owners can be overwhelming.
“An owner won a FED against their former tenant and in the last day before they surrendered possession, moved in another unauthorized person,” DeSeranno recalled. “The tenant vacated the property, but the new, unauthorized person, posted signs stating that they were the new sole occupant of the property and if anybody came on the property, they would be considered intruders and would be treated as such.”
Advocates say HB3522 is an important step in protecting property owners and restoring common-sense in Oregon law.
