Session: 2019-2020
ACLU-PA Position: Opposes
HB 365 (PN 2490) is intended to prevent illegal trespassing (“squatting”), but its provisions would have significant unintended consequences for occupants with legitimate ownership or tenancy rights. The bill would shift the careful, deliberate review of property disputes from the courts to the police, allowing curbside determinations of disputed ownership and possession claims. HB 365 would allow law enforcement to evict alleged squatters from residential properties based solely on probable cause, thereby allowing legitimate owners and occupants to be evicted from their residences without basic due process rights.
