The Texas senate has passed an anti-squatter bill — but critics call it 'pro-eviction' legislation that will increase homelessness. Who do you think is right?

The extent of the Texas squatting crisis

There’s limited data available to estimate how many squatters are currently holding property illegally in Texas.

Cpt. Jim Sharmon, Harris County Constable Pct. 4, testified that there are hundreds of cases each year in a single Harris County Constable Precinct, according to a May 2024 press release from Bettencourt.

Bettencourt also cited a third-party survey that reported 475 cases of squatting in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He estimated there were thousands of cases across the state.

In the April 10 press release, Bettencourt emphasized the problem by recounting victims' stories: “A homeowner testified a squatter broke into her Mesquite home, sold her belongings for pennies on the dollar, and then a JP in Garland, Texas, ruled to keep the squatter in her home over the holidays, denying her the right to come home for Christmas!”

Local Texas news station KHOU 11 reported a representative from the Texas Apartment Association testified that a group in San Antonio illegally seized more than 250 apartment units. The apartments were marketed as an immigration services center, but the group kept the rent money they collected for themselves.

“These stories are outrageous, but they’re real — and they’re happening statewide,” Bettencourt said in the release.

Invest in real estate without the headache of being a landlord

Imagine owning a portfolio of thousands of well-managed single family rentals or a collection of cutting-edge industrial warehouses. You can now gain access to a $1B portfolio of income-producing real estate assets designed to deliver long-term growth from the comforts of your couch.

The best part? You don’t have to be a millionaire and can start investing in minutes.

Learn More

Opposition to the bill

State Sen. Molly Cook was among those who opposed the bill.

“[Bill] 38 is very clearly a pro-eviction piece of legislation,” she wrote in a social media post. “This bill would streamline evictions, erode due process and increase homelessness in a time where rent prices are increasing faster than peoples’ wages. Housing insecurity is a public health crisis.”

The Texas Tribune reported on the state’s housing affordability crisis in January. Rising home prices have vastly outpaced incomes, according to the publication. Meanwhile, housing policy group Up for Growth estimates there’s a shortage of hundreds of thousands of homes.

Proponents of the bill argue that the proposed legislation works for both landlords and tenants with valid leases.

“I think we’ve struck the right balance between property rights of the owners and the needs of the of the renters, but to drive out the squatters that are really taking advantage of the fact that that they think they don’t have to pay anything or they have no penalty of occupying what they don’t own,” Bettencourt told Fox 7 Austin.

The bill must pass the House before the governor can sign it into law.