Bill Analysis: SB 1333 A New Law to Better Protect Homeowners & Punish Squatters

August 15, 2025

James Quintero

James Quintero is the policy director for the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Government for the People campaign. Since joining the Foundation in 2008, Quintero has focused extensively on: state & local government spending, taxes, debt, public pension reform, annexation, and local regulations.

Sloane Ennis

Sloane Ennis is a Life:Powered Intern at the Texas Public Policy Foundation for the 2025 Summer semester. Sloane graduated from Lake Travis High School in the spring and is now a rising Freshman at Texas A&M University, majoring in Engineering. At school, she participated in various programs including Speech and Debate, Student Council, National Honor Society, and Varsity Lacrosse.

The passage of Senate Bill 1333 (2025) addresses an important gap in Texas’ statutory framework by providing property owners with “clear legal tools to remove unauthorized occupants and [abate concerns]
that squatters can cause financial harm by damaging or neglecting property” (SB 1333 Bill Analysis, 2025, p. 1).This legislation was the culmination of a long investigatory process that ultimately determined a “need to ensure that individual rights are protected, and that the State’s laws provide balance to property owners and bona fide tenants, both in structure and enforcement” (Senate Committee on Local Government, 2024, p. 50).

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