Posted on 03/08/2023 2:09:58 PM PST by nickcarraway
A man lost his more than $100,000 property in a Delaware beachside community after his neighbor claimed squatter’s rights during a court battle over the parcel.
Burton Banks was forced to transfer to Melissa Schrock the title of the undeveloped land he inherited from his late father due to the little-known adverse possession code in the Diamond State, according to the Delaware News Journal.
Banks reportedly wanted to sell part of the Ocean View property in 2021, worth about $125,000, when he discovered Schrock had had a goat pen on it for decades. She also used about two-thirds of the acre belonging to Banks for other purposes.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
probably not. Adverse possession usually has 2 components. staying there WITHOUT permission and paying the taxes. That’s why you will see little signs on fences that say things like. “You are free to use this land but i can withdraw permission at any time” short circuits the dirtbag who is trying to steal your property.
This is when you need friends in the outlaw motorcycle world. They can be more convincing when courts side with squatters.
The poofter didn’t maintain situational awareness. Oops.
You have to be careful, even when trying to be friendly.
My cousin has a beach house on a lake that’s owned by his family. Their aunt owns a significant chunk of it, and once let a neighboring complex have access to the lake. They trucked in tons of sand and built a beach, erected a swingset and even put in a porta-john. Now they OWN that beach. They have unfettered access and, when the water starts to rise in the spring and flood “their” beach, they go and tear down the beaver damn downstream. The lake drops and the actual OWNERS can’t even float their boats from the docks. We’ve been out there pouring cement and pounding in rebar just to keep the locals from draining the lake. It’s like an old West range war.
The judge must know the neighbour.
I be showing back up with 25 or 50 of my new found buddies, The Hells Angels, and we are gonna squat right here with you and see how this turns out. I got a 10’ conex box full of beer on ice for them so it will be late but hopefully productive night.
This of it this way:
200 years ago, or even 100 years ago, there simply wasn’t the surveying or data storage technology to properly register land. So, you buy a plot, set up stakes and nobody says a word. You build on that land for decades, innocently thinking it’s yours. You build a LIFE on this land.
Then, along comes another party with a claim on the land. Years have passed and now the land can be properly surveyed and, sure enough, you’ve built your life on their property. You never meant to, and you innocently thought you were building on your own property. But, for decades, the rightful owner said nothing. Should you lose that land because of map, surveying or registry mistakes? THAT is what these laws were designed to prevent.
Now, if you KNOWINGLY build or encroach upon someone else’s land, should this law cover you? Definitely not. If the land is properly deeded to another party and both the possession and registry is clear, no third party should have a permanent claim on it. However, most of these laws have not been updated to support those claims.
I think adverse posession came about from the depopulation of England and Europe from the plague. Lots of properties with no known surving owners were occupied by survivors only to have someone claiming to be the rightful heirs decades later.
This solved the problem. It’s archaic in modern times.
Even in your example - if it is demonstrable that you were on someone else’s land, even accidentally - and the rightful owner likewise had no way to know for certain - you should have to buy the land you have encroached on (or otherwise make amends/right).
No requirement to have paid the taxes in my state.
What happens when they bikers evict the homeless from your property, and then move in?
Different states have different rules, but they usually require:
The owner probably could have prevented the AP if they noticed it and protested before the adverse possession time lapsed.
As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, granting a license (permission) usually prevents adverse possession as well.
Folks unaware of how adverse possession works in their area should also research implied easements -- they have some similarity to AP and are far more common.
He should charge her back rent for the years she used HIS land.
My gut tells me there's more to the story...and Burton is backing off.
That would be illegal - constructive eviction.
Melissa’s mother was married to Burton’s father.
They gotta sleep there for about 10 years...usually. (Every state is different.) And they can’t be hidden.
Deuteronomy 19:14
When I bought a house I put up a shed on my side of the fence between my neighbors and my property. Not a cheap prefab shed but one designed to be permanent.
15 years later neighbor wanted to replace fence and said my shed encroached on his property by one and 1/2 inches and I needed to move it.
I seriously considered adverse possession cause the shed was attached to concrete pilings and attached with lag bolts before the floor was put in.
It was a serious pita to move
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.