HOUSTON \u2013 A new Texas law meant to crack down on squatters is now in effect, bringing major changes not just for property owners, but for renters across the state.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers say Senate Bill 38 is designed to help homeowners remove squatters and speed up eviction cases. Housing advocates argue the law goes much further, making it easier to evict everyday tenants.<\/p>\n
The law takes effect Jan 1, 2026.<\/p>\n
What the law does<\/p>\n
Supporters of Senate Bill 38 often frame it as a response to squatting\u2014people living in homes without the owner\u2019s permission. But advocates who followed the bill closely say squatters are only a small part of the story.<\/p>\n
The new law shortens eviction court timelines and removes several procedural hurdles for landlords. In certain cases involving unauthorized occupants or squatters, judges can now issue eviction orders without a full trial if the person has no legal right to be on the property.<\/p>\n
But Mark Melton, with the Houston Eviction Advocacy Center, says most of the bill focuses on how landlords evict tenants\u2014not squatters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the entire bill is a huge win for landlords,\u201d Melton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSenate Bill 38 is not really geared toward squatters in the first place. This is really a bill that was intended to make it easier for landlords to evict regular old tenants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the law, eviction notices can now be delivered through more relaxed methods, including email. Tenants are also limited in how they can appeal an eviction\u2014only being allowed to do so for a \u201cgood faith\u201d reason, such as not receiving proper notice.<\/p>\n
A homeowner who lost everything<\/p>\n
For Glory Gendrett, the law comes after the damage is already done.<\/p>\n
She says squatters broke into her vacant family home and destroyed it beyond repair.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s emotional because somebody breaks into your property and just kind of claims it as their own,\u201d Gendrett said.<\/p>\n
The home had deep personal meaning\u2014it was built by her father.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve lost my home because it\u2019s destroyed,\u201d she said. \u201cThis was the home that my father built.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gendrett says allowing squatters to be removed without a trial could have saved her time and stress. Still, she believes the law doesn\u2019t go far enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a win, but there\u2019s still more work to be done,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s no law that says they have to repay you or pay you anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
A tenant caught in the system<\/p>\n
Senate Bill 38 does include one provision housing advocates consider a win: landlords can no longer evict tenants after their first late payment.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, this requires that a landlord give a special notice in the case where the tenant has never been late before,\u201d Melton explained.<\/p>\n
For Njuki Njukia, that protection comes too late.<\/p>\n
Njukia works for the Transportation Security Administration and says he was served an eviction notice after a single late payment during a federal government shutdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this person has been a good tenant and they have one issue for one month, possibly out of their control, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s reasonable to go straight to eviction,\u201d Njukia said.<\/p>\n
Progress\u2014but concerns remain<\/p>\n
With eviction timelines now shorter, appeals more limited, and notice requirements loosened, Melton warns the law could lead to more evictions happening faster, especially as housing costs continue to rise.<\/p>\n
Both homeowners and tenants affected by the system say Senate Bill 38 is a step forward\u2014but not a final solution.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers call the law a modernization of Texas housing policy. Advocates say its true impact will depend on how it\u2019s enforced\u2014and who it ultimately protects.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 A new Texas law meant to crack down on squatters is now in effect, bringing major…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[48220,48218,14406,39067,48221,7067,27,29,48219,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-106862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-evictions","9":"tag-housing-law","10":"tag-new-law","11":"tag-senate-bill-38","12":"tag-squatter-laws","13":"tag-squatters","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-texas-headlines","16":"tag-texas-housing-law","17":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}