Squatter's rights;

[BadDecisions]

Does this require some kind of screw up on the part of the township to charge the wrong person taxes? Or accept payment from them?

IANAL definitely applies here, but I'm betting all the websites talking about it are leaving out one key detail on the paying taxes issue - tax lien sales.

Here in Arizona, the city/county/state conducts a once a year auction for tax liens. While I don't know the specifics for other areas, I'm sure there's something similar everywhere. When you win an auction, you pay the back taxes, but you don't automatically get title to the land. The land owner then has a certain amount of time to repay you plus interest to retain the property. If they don't meet the deadline, you can then proceed with foreclosure and eviction proceedings, which is an additional cost and time.

My understanding is that the overwhelming portion of the auction sales are from investors that are just in it for the interest payments, and have zero interest in getting land on the cheap. I've looked at the auction listings a few times, and it seemed 99% of the parcels are garbage properties. Tiny parcels literally in the middle of nowhere with zero access, no utilities, etc or completely dilapidated property in the middle of the ghettos, etc. Which explains why the sales are all investors - buy a crap load of liens with the hope that a few pay out enough to cover the rest. Those that don't pay out just cycle through the auctions again in a few years.

 

[RandyT]

In Illinois if you are paying the taxes it shortens the time for adverse possession to kick in

From 20 years to 7. My house and property that I live on was acquired by adverse prossession Property was owned by my brother and sisters which they inherited from my grandmother. And my Mother paid the taxes on the property from my grandmothers death starting in 1967 Due to family conflicts went to court in 2014 and acquired the property by court deed in 2017. Also I had been running my lawnmower shop in a converted building starting in 1998 which help establish visible to the public improvements to the property requirement.

 

[IndyIan]

We had a little issue with our driveway crossing a narrow strip of claimed private land along the public road. There was always an access there to the fields on our property so I had just talked to elderly fellow who owned the strip and he was fine with us improving it for our driveway.
Well 12 years later he passes away and now the kids want to sell, and someone told them that our driveway was somehow an issue? So we get a letter from their lawyer(an experienced well respected one), and I just called him up and asked him what our options are, and if he could be our lawyer too which saves sending paper work around and both sides quite a bit of money...
Anyways, his solution was to hire a surveyor and let him decide if the strip of land even was private property, the surveyor said it wasn't and it was just part of the road allowance. so there was no issue with us using it, and no issue with the kids selling the rest of the property as the strip was not valuable anyways, and everyone was happy. Thinking back now, I suspect our mutual lawyer talked with the land surveyor and they figured this would be the simplest solution.

 

[jaxs]

This is no different than other "LAWS" it's on the books but acording to what a lawyer wants it to mean,the law may do many different things on different days. How many times have you been told "it isn't worth what it costs to hire a lawyer"? If you own property worth $100k and someone is willing to pay lawyers $70k to weasel you out of it,you probably won't spend $70k to prevent them doing it. Happens all the time.

 

[tradosaurus]

That right there excludes him from worrying about it. Generally adverse possession means that you occupied it without permission.

After reading this thread if I was giving someone permission to do anything on my land it would be in writing to avoid amnesia from potential squatters.

Given the legal ramifications of someone getting hurt on your land I would never give someone permission to be on my land.

 

[tradosaurus]

We had a little issue with our driveway crossing a narrow strip of claimed private land along the public road. There was always an access there to the fields on our property so I had just talked to elderly fellow who owned the strip and he was fine with us improving it for our driveway.
Well 12 years later he passes away and now the kids want to sell, and someone told them that our driveway was somehow an issue? So we get a letter from their lawyer(an experienced well respected one), and I just called him up and asked him what our options are, and if he could be our lawyer too which saves sending paper work around and both sides quite a bit of money...
Anyways, his solution was to hire a surveyor and let him decide if the strip of land even was private property, the surveyor said it wasn't and it was just part of the road allowance. so there was no issue with us using it, and no issue with the kids selling the rest of the property as the strip was not valuable anyways, and everyone was happy. Thinking back now, I suspect our mutual lawyer talked with the land surveyor and they figured this would be the simplest solution.

And both walked away well paid I would think.

 

[Langanobob]

I think it was in the early 1970’s when a group of squatters had been living on BLM land for I don’t know how many years near Dyer, NV. The BLM tried to evict them but the court awarded the squatters title to the land.

 

[dodge man]

As a land surveyor I have a continuing education requirement. One of the classes I took the teacher was both a land surveyor and lawyer. He said the idea you can’t get adverse possession against a city or state is not true. He gave a few examples. He said what usually happens is people can’t afford to fight the government.

 

[turnkey4099]

Maybe adverse possession seems unfair today, but it comes down to us from English common law. In early years, English land was handed down continuously to the oldest son; thus the title was in the same family forever. Sometimes, this was large tracts of unused land, and many were forever forbidden to hold land titles. Under adverse possession, you have to occupy the land openly and continuously for 15 to 20 years; and improve it. large absentee land owners had to at least be aware of what was happening on their land, or lose some of it.

My Grandfather lost 5 acres in NE Oklahoma back in the 50's. He lived in central Oklahoma and bought the land for $1.00 an acre in the late 30's, near what later become Grand Lake.

Worked with a fellow who bought an acreage in Kentucky, had it surveyed, and found that there were several acres that his neighbor had fenced, and was farming it. He approached his neighbor about it, and his neighbor said "My family has been farming that land for over 100 years". He told me that he never brought it up again.

A bit of correction. Land owner not only has to be aware of the adverse use but take active steps to end it. Or also agree to continue the use thereof but under whatever conditions the owner wants. That 'agree to continue' must be renewed periodically, If it lapses for the 15-20 years, the encroacer can file on it.

 

[TheMan419]

I have a similar situation... but need to check with a lawyer to what consist of proof and occupancy... like a trail might not be enough to consist of occupancy... in my case it is a none resident of our county who own the land behind mine and he never set foot on it and there is a creek that separate it so he cant access the back half, he gave me hunting rights on it so I made trails on his property its been 20 + years but I don't occupy it so I don't think it would qualified... think I would need a cabin...

Typically your use has to be unauthorized by the land owner. So if the land owner gave you rights to hunt you have a revocable license to use the property. That does not satisfy the "hostile" element of most adverse possession statutes. Of course laws in your state might be different so don't rely on my statements!