The N.C. House of Representatives (Photo: Christine Zhu/NC Newsline)
The North Carolina House of Representatives passed a bill allowing for alleged squatters to be removed from private property without the opportunity to contest the claims against them Wednesday.
Notably, the proposal, known as House Bill 96, drew opposition from three Republican members, a rarity in a caucus that typically votes in unison on matters that reach the House floor. It was one of just two bills this week that received “no” votes from multiple Republicans, in this case Reps. Hugh Blackwell (R-Burke), Carson Smith (R-Onslow), and Sarah Stevens (R-Surry). The bill also divided House Democrats, with 21 in favor and 26 opposed.
While Blackwell and Smith did not elaborate on their opposition, Stevens said in a House Rules Committee meeting Tuesday that she feared a “tremendous amount of violation of due process” under the proposal, which allows property owners to call on law enforcement for the expedited removal of alleged squatters occupying a residence they own, so long as they swear the individual is not a tenant or co-owner and has made no prior rental agreement or payment under penalty of felony perjury.
Though the bill does not allow the property’s occupants to contest their removal during the action, it allows them to pursue civil action to reverse wrongful eviction and recover damages as well as creating steep penalties for landlords that swear false affidavits in the removal process.
Introducing the bill Wednesday, sponsor Rep. Steve Tyson (R-Craven) touted support from the North Carolina Realtors, the Home Builders Association, and other property and rental interest groups. He noted that the North Carolina Justice Center, which often defends the rights of tenants, did not oppose the bill, nor did the Conference of District Attorneys.
Tyson did not discuss the specifics of the bill on the floor, but at Tuesday’s committee meeting, he said it was unacceptable that such a dispute could be held up in court “practically forever.”
“Anybody can get a lease online now and print it out,” Tyson told the committee. “You can go somewhere online, find a copy of the deed to the property if you’re savvy and see how the owner of the property signs their name. And so, it puts law enforcement in a very precarious position.”
The only other lawmaker to comment on the bill Wednesday, Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham) criticized the proposal as “circumventing the courts” and creating greater risk that individuals are evicted from their homes with no recourse to prevent it. She called to give the individuals being removed notice and to allow them to state their case to reduce the risk of wrongful removal.
“It has someone going before a magistrate with an affidavit and they sign their name and they swear to it and they give it to them and within 24 hours, law enforcement is supposed to remove any person that’s inhabiting that structure,” Morey said. “The Chiefs of Police are opposed to it and they do think doing something this expedited based only on a person’s affidavit in signature could put people in harm.”
Morey said that House Bill 966, a bill with similar intent brought by Republicans in the previous session, was a much better alternative. It largely created the same expedited removal process but with the key exceptions that a removal hearing would be held within two days of notice, allowing the alleged squatter to state their case and contest the claims against them.
“I think this is totally ignoring due process, safety of officers, and I encourage us to revisit it with an expedited process that follows people’s rights, so I encourage you to vote no,” Morey said.
Also passed Wednesday were bills reducing disclosure requirements for realtors, increasing the interval before red light violations take effect, and raising the penalty for sending sexual content to minors, among others. The expedited removal bill now awaits passage in the Senate, where it has not yet been scheduled for a vote.
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