Adverse possession is the occupation of a property for an extended period of time without legal ownership. If occupied for 10-12 years, the occupier can become the owner. The possession must be visible, hostile, and continuous. Mistaken property lines or abandoned properties can lead to adverse possession. The real owner can go to court to obtain full possession or allow the neighbor to gradually annex it. Adverse possession can also play a role in divorce settlements.
Adverse tenure is the occupation of a property for an extended period of time, as defined by law, that is not legally owned by the person occupying the property. This is sometimes called a squat or squatter’s rights. Clearly the property is unoccupied and if a person lives on the property long enough, 10-12 years in many states, he can become the owner of the property, even though he legally has no claim to it. It can therefore be said that adverse possession is a means of acquiring land or houses, without ever having to pay for it.
It cannot be said that the squat is legal. Indeed, time of occupation prior to acquiring title is specifically illegal. If the person who actually owns the property so chooses, he can have people employed and accused of trespassing removed from the property. You really can’t walk into someone else’s property and claim it for yourself without expecting legal repercussions. Also, in many cases, if you leave the property, you lose any time you accrued through the squatter’s rights.
Adverse possession, to be considered as such, must fall into three categories of definition. The person must physically own the property in a visible and real way. The person also mentally owns the property, sometimes called hostile possession. This means that the squatter or owner limits others’ use of the property. Finally, the possession of the asset by the person must be continuous. As stated above, you may not leave the property for any length of time.
Most adverse possession cases are innocent enough, not involving people dealing with land. A poorly drawn map of a person’s property that is incorrect can mean that people feel they have a right to own more land than they actually own. The wrong owner could enclose a small strip of land. If this goes unnoticed by the real owner of the land, and possession is physical, hostile and ongoing, then over time the person without specific ownership rights may own it through squatter rights.
If the real owner of the property realizes the mistake, he can go to court to obtain full possession of the property. Sometimes simply indicating to the neighbor that the property they have fenced in is adversely possessed ends adverse possession. Often these problems on small parcels of land are resolved when the correct drawings of the property lines are made, without the need for court resolutions. Alternatively, if the real owner of the property doesn’t really care about a small amount of land, he can override the rights of the squatter and allow the neighbor to gradually annex it through continued occupation.
Land tenure laws and mineral rights were a way of acquiring property quite similar to that used in adverse possession. Over time, people could acquire title to the lands they built, farmed, or mined on, provided they stayed there long enough. This is the only case where an innocent enough type of squat gives you title to government-owned land. In most other cases, you can’t own government land in a bad way. Each state has its own restrictions regarding government-owned properties.
Other cases of adverse possession, where the transgression is intentional and clearly understood, are less common. These can occur when people leave the property. A person can move into an abandoned house and possess it negatively. They may also pay home taxes to prove actual occupancy of the property. In divorce settlements, the rights of squatters may play a role in determining who acquires title to different types of freehold properties. If a person ignores property laws about who owns what, she can gradually regain title to the property she had to divide, while continuing to own it.
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