Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has vetoed a bill seeking to strengthen the rights of homeowners looking to evict squatters from their property.
Under the current law in Arizona, squatters must be pursued through the courts, a process that can become convoluted and lead to property owners spending exorbitant amounts of time and money.
The vetoed measure could have sped up this process by allowing property owners to submit an affidavit to the police to file a report.
Police, acting on the owner’s affidavit, would have had permission to direct the person to leave after verifying they didn’t have a permit or legal reason to be there. If they refused this order, police could charge them with trespassing.
Squatting Cases
During committee hearings, property owners testified about squatters severely damaging their property, leading to high repair costs.“We should not further victimize homeowners with a time-consuming, cumbersome, and costly removal process,” Ms. Rogers said.
Arizona state Sen. Justine Wadsack, a former real estate agent, also shared at a committee hearing that she encountered a squatter occupying a property she was showing to a client.
“It was a terrifying threat to my safety, the safety of my clients, as well as to the homeowners. When I called the police, I was told there’s not much they could do,” Ms. Wadsack said.
“Nobody should ever be allowed to live in and occupy another person’s home without their permission, yet I continue to have constituents reach out to me with these types of stories,” she added. “It’s a shame Governor Katie Hobbs has vetoed yet another piece of commonsense bipartisan legislation.”
Ms. Hobbs’s decision comes amid a surge in national stories about squatters seizing control of vacant homes, refusing to leave, and sometimes terrorizing homeowners.
