Squatting is a problem across DFW – here's why it's hard to track

This week, Fort Worth city council members considered an informal report on squatting laws in Texas.

A city spokesperson said it came, in part, after concerns from neighbors.

Crystal Moya with the Texas Apartment Association said that in 2022, the Fort Worth Housing Finance Corporation faced homeless squatters in a 54-unit, single-family home community.

"They were going into these homes and stripping them of anything valuable: Copper, appliances, you name it," Moya said during a state senate committee hearing in May.

She said in April 2023, staff at a tax-credit apartment community were doing routine checks of vacant units when they found several of them illegally occupied.

“We later learned that the boyfriend of a now-former employee, who had been recently released from prison, had been moving people into vacant units without our knowledge or consent," Moya said.

The complex was owned by the Dallas Housing Finance Corporation, and the employee was fired.

But Moya said police said this wasn't considered a crime, and they had to begin a formal eviction process for the 11 squatters.

She said it took six months and $150,000 before they could secure their last unit.

NBC 5 covered a case as recently as January when Colleyville Police said an adult and several children were squatting in a single-family home.

State Senator Paul Bettencourt, who held last month's squatting hearing, said one of the most horrific cases he's heard of is that of a Mesquite woman, Terri Boyette.

Boyette testified at the hearing, saying that on June 19th, 2023, she learned from a neighbor that someone else was living in her home.

Boyette said she had hired a handyman for repairs on the home but told him she'd be helping her mom in Florida for two weeks and would come back after.

She said instead, he broke into her home and wouldn't leave.

Boyette said police told her it was a civil matter and to start formal eviction proceedings.

“He used that time to sell my appliances, furniture, large items. Left the water running when he ripped out the fridge, washer, and dryer, so I have water and mold damage in my house now," Boyer said of her squatter.

She said she also found needles throughout the house when she was finally able to get in again nearly a year later.

“He allowed other people to come into the house and use it as a drug den," she said to senators.

Boyette said she's out $150,000 and many sentimental items, like her grandmother's wedding ring.

“I’m doing my part; I’m working, I’m buying a house. I’m trying to live the American dream, and somebody can walk in and destroy everything I have," she said.

"The problem in Texas law is we simply don't even have a definition of squatting at all," Bettencourt said. "You've got a complete disconnect between what the public knows is wrong and what the code actually says."

He said that makes it difficult for police to respond or even track squatting since there is no official definition or punishment.

Fort Worth Police told NBC 5 that they don’t have a category for “squatting” calls but that they would be considered disturbance calls, which often involve a civil issue rather than a police issue.

"There seems to be a wide disparity in responses by police departments to this problem," he said.

According to testimony during the hearing, witnesses said some police told them there was no crime and they'd have to go to civil court to get rid of their squatters. Others said police asked squatters to leave but wouldn't detain them, and the squatters would return the same night.

Bettencourt wants to introduce a bill next legislative session that would define squatting and create criminal penalties. He also wants to set up a fast track for Justice of the Peace Courts to handle squatting cases.

"We're going to try to prohibit squatters with very strong criminal penalties, make sure that the police know who is the rightful owner, and if necessary, go to court to get a quick decision by JP on a rocket docket," he said.

"Home and business owners should be able to... basically come take it back as fast as squatters come get it," Bettencourt added.

In its report to the Fort Worth City Council this week, city staff wrote that there are steps homeowners can take to protect vacant properties, even though "current Texas law does not adequately address all instances of squatting."

Those steps include:

• Adequately securing the property, locking doors and windows, and posting “No Trespassing”
  signs;
• Regularly checking the property for signs of attempted or actual entry or occupancy;
• Making the property appear to be inhabited and utilizing interior and exterior lights with
  timers or motion sensors, and
• Asking neighbors to watch the property and provide alerts of any suspicious activity.