Bill Description: House Bill 321 would specify circumstances under which a property owner may evict a squatter.

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Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?

House Bill 321 would create Section 6-310A, Idaho Code, which begins with the statement, "The legislature finds that the right to exclude others from entering, and the right to direct others to immediately vacate, residential real property are the most important real property rights." While this statement is broadly accurate, the protection of property rights should not be limited to residential property. 

The bill would create an eight-part test that a property owner or an owner’s agent must satisfy  to "request from the sheriff of the county in which the property is located the immediate removal of a person or persons unlawfully occupying a residential dwelling":

1. "The requesting person is the property owner or authorized agent of the property owner;
2. The real property that is being occupied includes a residential dwelling;
3. An unauthorized person or persons have unlawfully entered and remain or continue to reside on the property owner's property;
4. The real property was not open to members of the public at the time the unauthorized person or persons entered;
5. The property owner has directed the unauthorized person to leave the property;
6. The unauthorized person or persons are not current or former tenants pursuant to a written or oral rental agreement authorized by the property owner;
7. The unauthorized person or persons are not immediate family members of the property owner; and
8. There is no pending litigation related to the real property between the property owner and any known unauthorized person."

If all of these conditions are met, the property owner or the owner's authorized agent may "submit a complaint by presenting a completed and verified 'Complaint to Remove Persons Unlawfully Occupying Residential Real Property' to the sheriff of the county in which the real property is located." The bill contains a sample complaint and says, "The submitted complaint must be in substantially the following form" of the provided sample. 

The bill says, "Upon receipt of the complaint, the sheriff shall verify that the person submitting the complaint is the record owner of the real property or the authorized agent of the owner and appears otherwise entitled to relief pursuant to the provisions of this section."

If verified, the sheriff shall "without delay, serve a notice to immediately vacate on all the unlawful occupants and shall put the owner in possession of the real property."

The bill also clarifies that it is a crime for a person to "with the intent to detain or remain on real property, knowingly and willfully presents to another person a false document purporting to be a valid lease agreement, deed, or other instrument conveying real property rights." It is also a crime to list or advertise "residential real property for sale knowing that the purported seller has no legal title or authority to sell the property or who rents or leases the property to another person knowing that he has no lawful ownership in the property or leasehold interest in the property." 

Taken together, the provisions of this bill should help to protect property rights (at least for residential property) and give owners a method to regain control of their property from squatters under specific circumstances.

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