Panel backs new ejectment process for unlawful occupants, adopts related stay-of-execution amendment

House Bill 3387, a measure to create a legal process for residential property owners to remove unlawful occupants commonly called squatters, received a favorable report as amended from the Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Special Law Subcommittee on a 4-0 roll-call vote.

The bill, introduced at the subcommittee meeting, allows a property owner or the owner’s agent to file a verified petition with a clerk of court or magistrate seeking an ex parte order for immediate removal of an unlawful occupant if the petition establishes specified facts. Those facts, as read into the record, include that the petitioner owns or is an agent for the property, the dwelling is residential, the occupant remains on the property without authorization, the property is not open to the public, the occupant has not been a tenant or former tenant within the prior three months, the occupant is not an immediate family member, the occupant has refused to leave, and there is no litigation pending. An ex parte removal order takes effect immediately and remains until a hearing, which the bill requires to occur within 24 hours unless delay is justified.

The measure authorizes county sheriffs to…