Skip to content

A Squatter Is Not A Tenant

W. Va. Code § 37-6-31 — someone with no rental agreement is outside the landlord and tenant article

A squatter is a person living in a unit who has no rental agreement and is not authorized by the tenant to be there. A tenant holding over in a periodic tenancy is not a squatter.

Email

No eviction required. No court may require an owner to use eviction or a similar procedure to remove a squatter, and the removal is not to be unduly hindered.

Whether a particular person is a squatter or a tenant is a question for a licensed West Virginia attorney.

Sources for this section (2)
  1. W. Va. Code § 37-6-31 — Exclusions from application of this article
  2. W. Va. Code § 37-6-5 — Notice to terminate tenancy

Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed West Virginia attorney.

From here

Walked through

This section is the long version of a step in one walkthrough. Each one takes the same law one decision at a time, with both sides of the moment written out.