Two payments handed throughout Texas’ 89th legislative session, Senate Payments 38 and 1333, overhaul how the state tackles squatting and eviction disputes. These points are a high precedence for the state’s Republican officers: Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Home Speaker Dustin Burrows.
Landlords and property rights advocates are hailing the laws as long-overdue measures to fight fraud and unauthorized occupancy. In distinction, tenant advocates warn that the payments might worsen housing insecurity for hundreds of Texans already on the sting.
SB 38: An eviction overhaul
SB 38, authored by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) and initially dubbed an anti-squatting” invoice,” overhauls Texas eviction regulation to make it simpler and quicker for property house owners to take away folks unlawfully occupying their property. It clarifies procedures, hurries up eviction timelines, tightens appeals and provides provisions for faster writs of possession.
It handed the Home by an 85-44 vote, following in depth amendments that softened its most sweeping provisions.
“Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick requested the Native Authorities Committee to safe Texas from squatters, and we did!” mentioned Bettencourt. “Property house owners are dealing with monetary devastation and harmful confrontations, from a $6,000 dental invoice after a squatter dropped a fridge on a lady, to over $130,000 in authorized charges simply to evict illegal occupants. That ends now, as this can be a targeted anti-squatters invoice.”
https://senate.texas.gov/press.php?id=7-20250528a
SB 38 alarmed housing advocates. Brennan Griffin, senior deputy director on the Texas Appleseed, mentioned the invoice initially “would have been actually dangerous for all tenants and wouldn’t goal the issue of squatting in any respect.” As a substitute, the invoice would make the eviction course of simpler for landlords, on the expense of renters’ due course of.
One other regarding function was the invoice’s proposals to permit abstract evictions in as few as 5 days with out a court docket listening to or trial and no practical approach to attraction. This provision was later amended to “forcible entry and detainer,” typically known as “squatters” or “trespassers.” Defendants, nonetheless, have simply three days to file a sworn response. If there isn’t any legitimate dispute, the court docket should problem a judgment inside 10 days.
Griffin credited a bipartisan coalition for pushing again.
“Now we have managed to limit among the worst facets of SB 38. However there have been another elements of the invoice that also make the eviction course of worse than it was already for tenants.”
Brennan Griffin, senior deputy director on the Texas Appleseed
Appeals are additionally more durable: tenants should swear to a sound protection and pay lease promptly, or landlords get writs with out hearings. County courts should hear appeals inside 21 days.
SB 38 relaxes how landlords can ship eviction notices and modifications who can serve eviction writs. Now, any non-law enforcement third events or off-duty cops with out identification might carry them out, which Griffin warned may create “harmful conditions” and are “deeply regarding.
Ben Martin, analysis director at Texas Housers, mentioned it nonetheless weakens renter protections by making appeals tougher and by opening attainable conflicts with federal housing timelines.
“This was a invoice focused at renters,” Martin mentioned, worrying SB 1333 may embolden unscrupulous landlords to threaten tenants into “self-evicting” underneath the guise of legal fees. “It units up potential conflicts between state regulation and federal regulation. What the invoice [SB 38] says is {that a} landlord can transfer by means of the eviction course of underneath state regulation so long as they don’t bodily take away the individual and their belongings from the property earlier than that federal deadline. The state regulation now tries to skirt round that in methods which might be probably unconstitutional.”
Home Republicans handed SB 38 on Friday, one other invoice undermining tenants’ rights whereas disguising itself as a squatter invoice.
This unconstitutional laws harms Texas renters and can enable landlords to maneuver ahead with evictions in any other case barred by federal regulation. #txlege pic.twitter.com/7c3sbXGqy4
— Lulu Flores (@VoteLuluFlores) Might 26, 2025
The Texas House Affiliation, which advocated for the invoice acknowledged it is going to stop delay within the eviction course of.
“The invoice seeks to guard each property house owners and residents by making a extra environment friendly path to handle clear instances of unlawful squatting whereas sustaining current renter protections,” TAA’s Govt Vice President, Chris Newton, instructed the Defender.
SB 1333: New legal enamel towards trespassers
In contrast, SB 1333 squarely targets legal trespass and property scams. It additionally reclassifies sure squatting-related offenses as felonies, making it a Class A misdemeanor to knowingly use false or fraudulent deeds or lease paperwork to occupy property and a first-degree felony to knowingly listing, promote, promote, lease, or lease residential property with out authorized title or authority.
Supporters of the invoice say this was a vital step after a string of high-profile squatting instances left householders tangled in months-long court docket battles.
“At present in Texas, squatters can solely be eliminated by court docket order so the scumbags who do that usually are in a position to stay rent-free for months in somebody’s home,” mentioned Craig Smyser, a dealer affiliate at Fiv Realty. “There are qualifiers on this [bill], but it surely’s mainly designed to take away somebody who is really squatting in a home.”
John Bonura, a coverage analyst with the Texas Public Coverage Basis, additionally testified in favor of the invoice.
“The present authorized cures to cope with an individual trespassing on personal property with the aim of constructing it their residence are presently expensive, time-consuming and largely insufficient,” Bonura mentioned. “Texas, a state that prides itself on defending personal property, is failing its residents.”
Some supporters like James Benson, a property skilled with 5 Star Money Supply, referred to as the 2 payments a wake-up name for landlords and policymakers alike.
“The velocity and decisiveness of the laws replicate simply how extreme the squatter disaster has grow to be,” Benson mentioned. “The implementation would require due diligence. Landlords should guarantee they doc each interplay, observe lawful discover procedures and contain authorities appropriately. These reforms may assist stabilize housing investments in Texas and probably encourage different states to observe go well with.”
He predicted that the Texas strategy may quickly be replicated by states like Pennsylvania, South Carolina and New Jersey, that are contemplating related legal guidelines.
