AN ACT CONCERNING THE REMOVAL OF UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS FROM RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY.

House of Representatives
sHB5367 / File No. 166 1

General Assembly File No. 166
February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No. 5367

House of Representatives, March 25, 2026

The Committee on Housing reported through REP. FELIPE of
the 130th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the
House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE REMOVAL OF UNAUTHORIZED
PERSONS FROM RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Unauthorized person" means an individual who has entered, or 2
remains in, residential property without the consent of the owner or 3
lawful occupant; 4
(2) "Dwelling unit" has the same meaning as provided in section 47a-5
1 of the general statutes; 6
(3) "Police officer" means a sworn member of the Division of State 7
Police or of a municipal police department; and 8
(4) "Law enforcement agency" means the Division of State Police 9
within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection or 10
an organized municipal police department. 11
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(b) A real property owner, or the authorized agent of the real 12
property owner, may request the law enforcement agency for the 13
municipality in which the property is located to immediately remove a 14
person unlawfully occupying a dwelling unit pursuant to this section if 15
all of the following conditions are met: 16
(1) The requestor is the real property owner or authorized agent of 17
the real property owner; 18
(2) The real property that is being occupied includes a dwelling unit; 19
(3) An unauthorized person has unlawfully entered and remained or 20
continues to reside on the real property owner's property; 21
(4) The real property was not open to members of the public at the 22
time the unauthorized person entered; 23
(5) The real property owner has directed the unauthorized person to 24
leave the property; 25
(6) The unauthorized person is not a current or former tenant 26
pursuant to a written or oral rental agreement authorized by the real 27
property owner; 28
(7) The unauthorized person is not an immediate family member of 29
the real property owner; and 30
(8) There is no pending litigation related to the real property between 31
the real property owner and any known unauthorized person. 32
(c) To request the immediate removal of an unauthorized person who 33
is unlawfully occupying a residential property, the real property owner, 34
or the authorized agent of the real property owner, shall submit a 35
request to the law enforcement agency of the municipality in which the 36
real property is located by presenting a (1) signed affidavit, and (2) copy 37
of the property owner's valid government-issued identification or, in the 38
case of an authorized agent, documents evidencing the agent's authority 39
to act on behalf of the property owner. The affidavit shall certify the 40
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following: 41
(A) That the requestor is the real property owner or owner's 42
authorized agent of the real property from which removal is sought; 43
(B) The date on which the real property owner obtained title to the 44
real property from which removal is sought; 45
(C) That an unauthorized person has unlawfully entered the property 46
and unlawfully remains on the property after being directed to leave the 47
property; 48
(D) That the property was not open to members of the public at the 49
time the unauthorized person entered; 50
(E) That the unauthorized person is not an immediate family member 51
of the real property owner; 52
(F) That the unauthorized person is not an owner or co -owner of the 53
property and has not been listed on the title to the property unless the 54
person has engaged in title fraud; 55
(G) That there is no litigation related to the real property pending 56
between the real property owner and any unauthorized person who is 57
unlawfully occupying the property; and 58
(H) That the unauthorized person being removed from the property 59
may bring a cause of action against the requestor for any false 60
statements made in the request and affidavit and that the requestor may 61
be liable for actual damages, penalties, costs and reasonable attorney 62
fees. 63
(d) Upon receipt of the request, the law enforcement agency shall 64
verify that the person submitting the request is the record owner of the 65
real property, or the authorized agent of the owner of such property, 66
and appears otherwise entitled to relief under this section. If verified, 67
the local law enforcement agency shall, without delay, serve a notice to 68
immediately vacate on each unauthorized person who is unlawfully 69
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occupying the property and shall put the owner in possession of the real 70
property. Service may be accomplished by hand delivery of the notice 71
to the unauthorized person or by posting the notice on the front door or 72
entrance of the property. The police officer serving such notice shall also 73
attempt to verify the identities of all persons occupying the property and 74
note the identities on the return of service. If appropriate, the police 75
officer may arrest any unauthorized person found on the property for 76
trespass, outstanding warrants or any other legal cause. 77
(e) A person may bring a civil cause of action for wrongful removal 78
under this section. A person harmed by a wrongful removal under this 79
section may be restored to possession of the real property and may 80
recover actual costs and damages incurred, statutory damages equal to 81
triple the fair market rent of the property, court costs and reasonable 82
attorney's fees. 83
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 New section

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
References to "police department" were changed to "law enforcement
agency" and "police officer" and a definition for such terms added, for
consistency with standard drafting conventions; references to "property
owner" were changed to "real property owner" and references to
"property" were changed to "real property" for clarity and consistency.

HSG Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
All Municipalities Potential
Savings
Minimal Minimal

Explanation
The bill, which creates a process for the removal of unauthorized
persons from re sidential property, results in a potential savings to
municipalities related to a possible decrease in evictions.
To the extent the bill results in fewer evictions, there may be a
potential savings to municipalities associated with storing fewer
possessions of evicted tenants, beginning in FY 27.
The bill also allows individuals who are allegedly wrongfully
removed to bring a civil cause of action, which does not result in a fiscal
impact. The court system disposes of over 250,000 cases annually and
the number of cases is not anticipated to be great enough to have a
material change on court operations.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to the actual number of evictions.

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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5367

AN ACT CONCERNING THE REMOVAL OF UNAUTHORIZED
PERSONS FROM RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY.

SUMMARY
This bill creates a new process by which a real property owner, or
their authorized agent , may ask the municipality’s law enforcement
agency to immediately remove a person unlawfully occupying a ll or
part of a residence (an “unauthorized person”) , under certain
circumstances. A “law enforcement agency” is an organized municipal
police department or the State Police, as applicable.
Under the bill, an “unauthorized person” is someone who (1) entered
or remains in a residential property without the owner’s or lawful
occupant’s consent and (2) is not the property owner’s (a) current or
former tenant under a rental agreement the owner authorized or (b)
immediate family member. Existing law, unchanged by the bill, allows
owners (landlords) to use the summary process (eviction) to remove
tenants based on certain grounds (see BACKGROUND).
The bill’s new removal process is available to owners or their agents
only if there is no pending litigation related to the property between the
owner and any known unauthorized person , and only in situations in
which the:
1. unauthorized person unlawfully entered the property, was asked
by the property owner to leave, and stayed or continues to live
on the property, and
2. property was not open to the public when the unauthorized
person entered.
Under the bill, a property owner or authorized agent can submit a
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request to begin the removal process by giving the municipality’s law
enforcement agency a (1) signed affidavit certifying certain information
and (2) copy of the property owner’s valid, government -issued
identification or, for an authorized agent, documents showing his or her
authority to act on the property owner’s behalf. If the law enforcement
agency verifies the removal request, it must serve a notice to
immediately vacate on the unauthorized person and put the owner in
possession. A police officer may arrest any unauthorized person found
on the property for trespass, outstanding warrants, or any other legal
cause, if appropriate.
The bill also creates a civil cause of action for wrongful removal.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026
AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED TO INITIATE REMOVAL PROCESS
Under the bill, the required affidavit must certify the date the owner
obtained title to the property and that:
1. the requestor own s the property from which removal is being
requested, or their authorized agent;
2. an unauthorized person unlawfully entered and remains on the
property after being directed to leave;
3. the property was not open to the public when the unauthorized
person entered;
4. the unauthorized person is not (a) the property owner’s
immediate family member, (b) the property’s owner or co-owner,
or (c) listed on the property title (unless due to title fraud);
5. there is no pending litigation related to the property between the
owner and any unauthorized person unlawfully occupying the
property; and
6. the unauthorized person subject to removal may bring a cause of
action against the requestor for any false statements he or she
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made in the request and affidavit (and that the requestor may be
liable for actual damages, penalties, costs, and reasonable
attorney fees).
NOTICE TO IMMEDIATELY VACATE
After receiving a removal request, the bill requires the law
enforcement agency to verify that the person who submitted it is the
property’s record owner (or their authorized agent) and appears
otherwise entitled to relief. If verified, the law enforcement agency
must, without delay, (1) serve a notice to immediately vacate on each
unauthorized person unlawfully occupying the property and (2) put the
owner in possession (presumably by removing the unauthorized
person).
(The bill does not specify whether the law enforcement agency must,
after serving notice, remove the unauthorized person’s possessions and
personal effects, if any, or what happens to these items after the person’s
removal. Additionally, it does not specify the notice’s required form or
content.)
Proper Service
Under the bill, a police officer (a sworn member of the State Police or
a municipal police department, as applicable) (1) may serve the notice
to immediately vacate by hand to an unauthorized person or post it on
the property’s front door or entrance and (2) must try to verify the
identity of anyone occupying the property and note this on the return
of service.
Wrongful Removal
Under the bill, a person harmed by wrongful removal (1) has a civil
cause of action; (2) may be restored to possession of the property; and
(3) may recover actual costs and damages incurred, court costs,
reasonable attorney’s fees, and statutory damages eq ual to three times
the property’s fair market rent.
BACKGROUND
Summary Process
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By law, once a landlord has a ground for eviction, he or she begins
the process by serving the tenant with a notice to quit possession. The
landlord must serve it at least three days before a rental agreement is
terminated or before the time the notice to quit specifies (in other words,
the landlord must give the tenant at least three full days to move out).
If the tenant fails to respond to this notice by refusing to move from
the rented premises, the landlord may start proceedings in Superior
Court by filing a summons and complaint. The tenant may respond to
the complaint; if he or she contests the action, the court may try the case
and enter judgment. If the court rules for the landlord, it orders the
judgment executed, and a state marshal removes the tenant and his or
her belongings.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Housing Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 11 Nay 8 (03/10/2026)