This week, Fort Worth city council members considered an informal report on squatting laws in Texas.Crystal Moya with the Texas Apartment Association said that in 2022, the Fort Worth Housing Finance Corporation faced homeless squatters in a 54-unit, single-family home community.
NBC 5 covered a case as recently as January when Colleyville Police said an adult and several children were squatting in a single-family home. Boyette said she had hired a handyman for repairs on the home but told him she'd be helping her mom in Florida for two weeks and would come back after.Boyette said police told her it was a civil matter and to start formal eviction proceedings.
“I’m doing my part; I’m working, I’m buying a house. I’m trying to live the American dream, and somebody can walk in and destroy everything I have," she said. Fort Worth Police told NBC 5 that they don’t have a category for “squatting” calls but that they would be considered disturbance calls, which often involve a civil issue rather than a police issue.According to testimony during the hearing, witnesses said some police told them there was no crime and they'd have to go to civil court to get rid of their squatters. Others said police asked squatters to leave but wouldn't detain them, and the squatters would return the same night.