CSSB 207(JUD): "An Act relating to the removal of unlawful occupants from residential real property; and relating to the crimes of forgery and deceptive business practices."
00 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 207(JUD) 01 "An Act relating to the removal of unlawful occupants from residential real property; 02 and relating to the crimes of forgery and deceptive business practices." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 09.45 is amended by adding a new section to article 12 to read: 05 Sec. 09.45.950. Removal of unauthorized occupant from residential real 06 property. (a) Notwithstanding AS 09.45.060 - 09.45.160, a person who is the owner 07 of residential real property or an agent of the owner of the property may file a request 08 with a peace officer to remove a person who is unlawfully occupying a dwelling unit 09 located on the property if 10 (1) the occupant entered the dwelling unit when the dwelling unit was 11 not open to the public or when the occupant was not otherwise privileged to do so; 12 (2) the occupant continues to occupy the dwelling unit; 13 (3) the owner or an agent of the owner of the property has directed the 14 occupant to leave the dwelling unit;
01 (4) the occupant does not have, and has not had, a rental agreement 02 entitling the occupant to occupy a dwelling unit located on the property; 03 (5) the occupant is not an immediate family member of the property 04 owner; and 05 (6) no litigation related to the property is pending between the property 06 owner and the occupant. 07 (b) A request submitted under (a) of this section must be made under oath and 08 be in substantially the following form: 09 REQUEST TO REMOVE AN UNLAWFUL 10 OCCUPANT OF RESIDENTIAL REAL PROPERTY. 11 I, ________________________, am the (check one) [ ] owner, 12 or [ ] agent of ________________________, who is the owner, of the 13 residential real property located at _____________________________, 14 and I declare under the penalty of perjury that (initial each box): 15 1. [ ] I am the owner or an agent of the owner of the property. 16 2. [ ] The owner purchased the property on ______________. 17 3. [ ] The property is residential real property and has a 18 dwelling unit located on the property. 19 4. [ ] A person entered the dwelling unit when the dwelling 20 unit was not open to the public or when the person was not otherwise 21 privileged to do so. 22 5. [ ] The occupant continues to occupy the dwelling unit. 23 6. [ ] ________________________, who is the owner or an 24 agent of the owner of the property, has directed the occupant to leave 25 the dwelling unit. 26 7. [ ] The occupant does not have, and has not had, a rental 27 agreement entitling the occupant to occupy a dwelling unit located on 28 the property. 29 8. [ ] The occupant is not an owner of the property. 30 9. [ ] The occupant is not an immediate family member of the 31 property owner.
01 10. [ ] No litigation related to the property is pending between 02 the property owner and the occupant. 03 11. [ ] I understand that an occupant removed from the 04 property under AS 09.45.950 may file an action against me for any 05 false statements made in this request or for wrongfully using this 06 procedure and that I may be held liable for actual damages, penalties, 07 costs, and attorney fees as allowed by law. 08 12. [ ] A copy of my valid government-issued identification is 09 attached, or I am an agent of the property owner and have attached 10 evidence of my authority to act on the owner's behalf. 11 I HAVE READ EVERY STATEMENT MADE IN THIS REQUEST 12 AND EACH STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. I 13 UNDERSTAND THAT A PERSON WHO MAKES A FALSE 14 SWORN STATEMENT IN CONNECTION WITH A REQUEST 15 MADE UNDER AS 09.45.950 IS SUBJECT TO CRIMINAL 16 PROSECUTION FOR PERJURY AS PROVIDED IN AS 11.56.200. 17 Signature: _________________________________ 18 Date of Signature: ___________________________ 19 (c) A person filing a request under this section shall file the request with a 20 peace officer of the municipality or unincorporated community in which the property 21 is located. If the property is located outside of a municipality or unincorporated 22 community, the person shall file the request with the nearest available peace officer. 23 (d) A peace officer receiving a request under this section shall verify that the 24 requester is the record owner of the residential real property or an agent of the record 25 owner of the property and appears entitled to relief under this section. The peace 26 officer shall notify the requester of whether the request is verified. 27 (e) After a request has been verified under (d) of this section, the owner of the 28 residential real property, an agent of the owner of the property, or, at the request of the 29 owner or agent, a peace officer shall serve the occupant with notice to vacate and 30 deliver possession of the dwelling unit to the owner within 48 hours. Service may be 31 accomplished by hand delivery of the notice to an occupant or by posting the notice on
01 the front door or entrance of the dwelling unit. The person serving the notice shall 02 attempt to verify the identity of each occupant of the dwelling unit and note the 03 identities of each occupant on the return of service. 04 (f) Once the required 48-hour period has elapsed following service under (e) 05 of this section, the owner or an agent of the owner of the property may request that the 06 peace officer go to the property to keep the peace while the owner or agent changes 07 the locks and removes the personal property of the occupant from the dwelling unit to 08 or near the property line. 09 (g) Except when an occupant is removed from the property wrongfully under 10 this section, the owner or an agent of the owner of the property is not liable to an 11 occupant or another person for the loss, destruction, or damage of personal property 12 resulting from the removal of the occupant and the occupant's property from a 13 dwelling unit under this section. 14 (h) Notwithstanding AS 34.03.210, an occupant who has been wrongfully 15 removed from a dwelling unit under this section may bring an action against the 16 person who requested the removal of the occupant to restore possession of the 17 property under AS 09.45.060 - 09.45.160 and may recover 18 (1) actual damages; and 19 (2) an amount not to exceed three times the value of one month of fair 20 market rent for the dwelling unit. 21 (i) This section does not limit the rights of property owners or prohibit a peace 22 officer from arresting an occupant for criminal trespass or another legal cause. 23 (j) In this section, 24 (1) "dwelling unit" has the meaning given in AS 34.03.360; 25 (2) "immediate family member" means a spouse, domestic partner, 26 child, sibling, parent, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, stepparent, 27 stepchild, or stepsibling; 28 (3) "rental agreement" has the meaning given in AS 34.03.360. 29 * Sec. 2. AS 11.46.505(a) is amended to read: 30 (a) A person commits the crime of forgery in the second degree if the person 31 violates AS 11.46.510 and the instrument is or purports to be
01 (1) a deed, will, codicil, contract, assignment, negotiable or other 02 commercial instrument, rental agreement, or other document which does or may 03 evidence, create, transfer, alter, terminate, or otherwise affect a legal right, interest, 04 obligation, or status; or 05 (2) a public record. 06 * Sec. 3. AS 11.46.710(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) A person commits the crime of deceptive business practices if, in the 08 course of engaging in a business, occupation, or profession, the person 09 (1) makes a false statement in an advertisement or communication 10 addressed to the public or to a substantial number of persons in connection with the 11 promotion of the sale of property or services or to increase the consumption of 12 property or services; 13 (2) uses or possesses for use a false weight or measure or any other 14 device for falsely determining or recording any quality or quantity; 15 (3) sells, offers for sale, exposes for sale, or delivers less than the 16 represented quantity of a commodity or service; 17 (4) sells, offers for sale, or exposes for sale adulterated commodities; 18 [OR] 19 (5) sells, offers for sale, or exposes for sale mislabeled commodities; 20 or 21 (6) sells, leases, or advertises for sale or lease a dwelling that the 22 person does not have the right to sell, lease, or advertise. 23 * Sec. 4. AS 11.46.710(c) is amended to read: 24 (c) Except as provided in (d) and (e) of this section, deceptive business 25 practices is a class A misdemeanor. 26 * Sec. 5. AS 11.46.710(d) is amended to read: 27 (d) Deceptive business practices is a class C felony if the person violates 28 (a)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this section and uses the Internet or a computer network 29 to commit the offense. In this subsection, "Internet" means the combination of 30 computer systems or networks that make up the international network for interactive 31 communications services, including remote logins, file transfer, electronic mail, and
01 newsgroups. 02 * Sec. 6. AS 11.46.710 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 03 (e) Deceptive business practices is a class C felony if the person violates (a)(6) 04 of this section.