With instances of squatting sharply on the rise across the state, an Illinois lawmaker is sponsoring a bill that would give more protections to home owners from squatters.
State Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, introduced a bill that would give law enforcement the power to remove trespassers from properties where the owner is able to establish legal ownership. The measure has already passed in the Illinois Senate.
“This is about correcting a bad public policy and making clarity between a squatter and a tenant,” Ford told The Center Square. “Squatters don’t have rights. Tenants have rights. And we have to clear up our law in Illinois to distinguish between the two so that the process of getting a squatter out is swift and they don’t have to be treated like a tenant. Where tenants have rights and landlords may have disputes with tenants and have to go to court to get them out, there should be no court that determines whether the squatters’ out.”
