Lawmakers consider squatter eviction bill INDIANPOLIS (WISH) — The author of a bill to expedite squatter removals said Monday existing trespassing laws could tie up property owners in unrelated landlord-tenant regulations. The bill defines a squatter as anyone who occupies someone else’s property and does not have and never had a rental agreement or the owner’s permission. A property owner could provide a sworn statement that someone was a squatter, whereupon law enforcement would have to remove the person within 48 hours. Bill author Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, said police in his district are encountering an increasing number of squatters. He said under current laws, a squatter could claim to be a tenant. At that point, any effort to remove them would have to be diverted into landlord-tenant procedures. “What has happened around the country is people have had trespassers, squatters, and then had to go through a court proceeding and wait for a hearing to get them removed,” he said. A person accused of squatting could defend themselves by providing documentation showing they had permission to be on the property, at which point the property owner could face perjury charges. The bill passed the Senate 48-1 earlier this session and cleared the House by a vote of 72-18 on Monday. Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, said the bill turns law enforcement into finders of fact in the absence of a judge. He said the state already has laws to expedite the removal of unauthorized persons from private property. “We don’t need to create an entire new body of law that has no judicial officer, no finder of fact, no determiner of law in the whole process,” he said. “Once the person is removed from the property, now the burden is on them to go into court and fight it out.” The measure has to go back to the Senate because the House made some changes in committee. Gaskill said he worked with the House on those changes and will ask the Senate to accept them. ...read more read less