Wyoming Squatters Laws Just Got A Lot Tougher

It just got a lot easier to kick our squatters in the state of Wyoming.

Let's say you go on vacation and come back to find strangers in your home, and the locks have been changed.

Perhaps a widow vacates a family home and puts her house on the market but then squatters take over and claim it as their own.

Squatters take over apartments in the same way.

The legal process to boot the squatters and reclaim the property can take years and can cost as much as the home itself.

Then there is the cost of repairing the home after the squatters are finally vacated.

Under this new Wyoming law, authorities can remove squatters in a matter of a day or two with heavy legal and financial consequences to the squatters.

Senate File 006 makes it a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison or up to $10,000 in fines—or both—if a person illegally occupies and knowingly damages or destroys property.

It also allows homeowners to seek the immediate removal of those illegally occupying their property via law enforcement and doesn’t hold law enforcement responsible for any damage that might occur during the process.

Creating false leases or other documents in order to illegally use property will be charged with a misdemeanor and could be fined $750.00 and face up to six months in prison.

Chances are they don't have the $750.000, which could lead to more jail time.

Currently, Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Tennessee, Washington, and West Virginia, in addition to Wyoming, have passed laws against squatting.