Senate bill would give Oklahoma property owners an avenue to remove unlawful occupants

OKLAHOMA CITY – Rep. Ross Ford said Senate Bill 1994 is crafted to help property owners remove unlawful occupants.

The Broken Arrow Republican and primary author said while the bill is not a homelessness law, illegal squatting by homeless people could be one of the reasons an owner wants someone removed from their property.

Ford and three co-authors — Rep. Rande Worthen, R-Lawton; House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City; and Rep. Terry O’Donnell, R-Catoosa — are clear about the importance of Senate Bill 1994, which would allow a property owner to request the sheriff of the county in which the property is located to immediately remove person(s) unlawfully occupying property, but only if certain conditions are met. The men said their incentive is property owners who are being inundated by people illegally occupying property.

“This is exacerbated by the number of people coming across our Southern border illegally, property thefts through methods such as unlawful title changes, or just people moving a trailer onto someone else’s land or moving into someone’s home while they’re on vacation and refusing to leave,” the men said in their statement. “Oklahoma is a property rights state, and we are working with our sheriffs and others to identify and stop this type of crime and to advocate for the rights of our property owners. Private property ownership is one of the very foundations of our constitutional system of government and protects an individual’s ability to prosper and participate in the free market and in our representative form of government. This legislation is important to ensuring this fundamental right is protected.”

Ford said while the law enforcement entity tasked with taking action is the county sheriff, that action an be applied anywhere in the state.

“It will work in rural Oklahoma or urban Oklahoma,” he said, adding the bill’s provisions are specific to private property, not public property.

Ford said the bill tasks the sheriff with enforcement because that agency already takes care of crimes of this nature, meaning they already have the structure in place.

What the bill does is create criteria that property owners must meet before they can file for removal of unlawful occupants. Ford said that means completing a questionnaire with specific questions, such as the owner doesn’t have a lease with the occupant or a business relationship with them that entitles the occupant to the property/structure. Once the sheriff verifies the questions are answered correctly, “then they (the sheriff) could remove them (the occupants) from the property.” Ford also said if someone illegally on property presents a fake lease agreement, that also would be a crime.

Ford said the act is designed specifically to address those illegally on property, which can mean land or a structure.

“It does not do anything to overrule the Landlord Tenant Act,” he said of the state law that protects tenants who have legal rights to live on property. “You can’t use that because you have a tenant you want out.”

The new law protects both property owners and legal tenants, he said, explaining, for example, if someone is legitimately living in a house and can prove they have a lease from the property owner, they can sue for damages against someone trying to use the new act to remove them.

Senate Bill 1994 was passed by the House this week and now returns to the Oklahoma Senate for final consideration, where Ford said the bill’s original author has indicated support. Senate approval means the bill then would go to Gov. Kevin Stitt for his signature.