COLUMBUS, Ohio — Lawmakers across Ohio are continuing a discussion centered around affordable housing issues. However, some politicians are trying to add protections for homeowners to keep unwanted guests from becoming permanent residents. 

House bill 478 could provide law enforcement with more authority when it comes to removing squatters, who are people who stake claim to a property that is not theirs.

"This is more of a preemptive idea," said State Rep. Jeff LaRe, R-District 73. "Squatting is not a huge problem. It does occur throughout our state, but the criminals might have a process to take advantage of property owner rights. But we're putting the process together to give those rights back to the property owners to take control of their house and avoid those situations." 

In some cities across the country, squatting has become a major problem. Although Ohio has had very few cases, LaRe believes Ohio deserves protection, especially if someone provides fake lease or rental agreements to squat on someone else's property. He said to remove a squatter from a property, it takes the power out of the hands of law enforcement, and the process could take weeks, resulting in a civil matter. 

"It's really just giving the rights back to the property owner," LaRe said. "They shouldn't have to deal with that, whether they're renovating their home or they've gone on a luxurious vacation to Europe for two weeks, and they come back and find somebody living on there in their house." 

The proposal also places criminal charges on the squatter if that person causes more than $5,000 in damage to the property.

Melissa Benson from the Legal Aid Society of Columbus believes existing eviction laws can already address the problems of dealing with squatters in Ohio. She said the issue is very minimal within the Buckeye State. She also refers any individuals who have had a squatter incident to report the case to the Attorney General’s office. 

"Any property owner who has someone who is residing in their property that should not be there, doesn't have a legal right to be there can serve a three-day notice," Benson said, "And file an eviction and get them out very quickly." 

Although the bill has not been assigned to a committee just yet for opponent and proponent testimony, some groups are alarmed with the proposal.

Amy Riegel, the executive director of the Coalition of Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, called the proposal completely unnecessary. She also mentioned how it could have a drastic effect on society and could remove people from homes without due process.

"We would prefer to just have state law remain as it is rather than an act is this proposal would do more harm and take away rights of the tenants and cause the opportunity for more unlawful removals of individuals from housing than is currently allowed," Riegel said. 

"We do see a lot of those where leases from several years ago have expired and a person is month to month or never actually had a written lease," Benson said. "They just had a verbal agreement with the property owner. And, in those situations, it would be very difficult for a person to demonstrate a tenancy immediately in that situation."

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Jeff LaRe's last name. This error has been corrected. (April 20, 2024)