For about 20 years, Pamela Willis called a townhouse in southwest Houston home. She raised her son there and remembers it as a good house in what was once, in her view, a good neighborhood.
Now 80, Willis says people she does not know are living inside the property, which remains in her name. She told KHOU 11 that the current occupants are not on the lease and have been there for at least two years.
Her son had previously lived at the townhouse. Willis told the station that he “didn’t run with the greatest crowd,” but she said she does not know the people now occupying the property.
Getting them out has proved difficult. KHOU reported that Houston police received three calls for service at the property this year, including trespassing calls in February and July, while Willis says she and her husband have continued trying to regain control of the home.
Still Inside
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“We’ve got those guys that are living there, we can’t get them out,” Willis told KHOU. “I don’t even know how they got electricity because we turned it off.”
Video from outside the townhouse shows an air-conditioning unit taped into a window. Willis also says the occupants have damaged the property.
The situation has created another problem for the owners. KHOU reported that a property management group has filed a lawsuit against them in connection with the condition of the property. Attorneys for the group told the station they could not comment.
A Faster Route
Texas lawmakers created a new process last year aimed specifically at removing certain unauthorized occupants from residential property.
Chapter 24B of the Texas Property Code, which took effect Sept. 1, 2025, allows a residential property owner or the owner’s agent to request immediate removal by a sheriff or constable when the statutory requirements are met.
The process is narrower than simply declaring someone a squatter. Among other conditions, the person must have entered and be occupying the home without the owner’s consent, must have refused an instruction to leave, and cannot be a current or former tenant under an oral or written lease. The person also cannot be an immediate family member of the owner.
The property cannot be the subject of pending litigation between the owner and the occupant. That provision is distinct from the lawsuit KHOU reported between the property owners and the property management group.
An owner or the owner’s agent seeking removal submits a sworn complaint to the sheriff or constable. Once the official verifies that the complainant is the record owner or the owner’s agent and is otherwise entitled to relief, the law calls for an immediate notice to vacate and restoration of possession to the owner.
The Harris County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office told KHOU that it supports the law because it expedites the process.
Another Hurdle
For Willis, having a faster legal avenue has not yet meant getting the townhouse back.
KHOU reported that Willis is bedridden and would have to go in person to file the paperwork in her situation. The statute itself permits either an owner or an owner’s agent to request removal.
Meanwhile, Willis worries about the financial consequences of a property she says she no longer controls.
“It hurts, I don’t have that kind of money,” she told KHOU. “I’m going to pay for those people to live in my townhouse; we don’t rent it to them; they just moved in.”