Trespassers can own land without paying a cent

By Harold Ayodo

Owning registered property without paying a cent would seem like a far-fetched dream, but it is a reality many shrewd players in real estate are exploring.

Unknown to many landlords, many of the families they refer to as trespassers can legally take over their property without paying a cent.

Tenants and squatters who understand Property Law are increasingly moving to court to seek registered ownership of land they live on. They are taking advantage of legal provisions in the law of adverse possession that provides for owning property without spending a penny.

The basic idea behind the acquisition is that a person who takes possession of the property gets a legal title of ownership, thanks to the Law of Limitation Act.

Provisions of the Law of Limitations state that anyone who has a legitimate claim in law against another and takes too long to make it is legally barred from it.

If the original registered owner fails to, within 12 years, evict the alleged trespasser from his/her land then the owner is legally barred from recovering possession.

Law

The law on adverse possession gives effect to the policy on ‘registered property owners who sleep on their rights should not be assisted in court to reclaim their investments’.

It is also justified on the assertion that certainty of title to land is a social need and occupation of, land which has long been unchallenged, should not be disturbed.

Courts often grant title of such land to the squatter on the premise that the registered owner slept on his rights of ownership. Adverse possessors must however, prove to the court that they entered the property adversely — without legal title.

It must also be proved that the registered owner of the land was aware that the people had entered his land without title. Other requirements are that the legal owner did not interrupt the over 12 year’s stay of the adverse possessor.

The principle is in the public interest that a person who has long been in undisputed possession should be able to deal with the land as owner. Ignorance of law is never an excuse and limitation therefore means the extinction of stale claims.

Act early

Therefore, property owners should ensure that adverse possessors do not access their land and ensure to take legal action before the expiry of 12 years after occupation.

Seeking legal redress early would enable the registered owner to evict the alleged illegal occupant through court action. It is for similar reasons that families — especially in informal settlements — often move to court to stop planned evictions.

 And courts have set precedents by ruling in favour of families that were branded trespassers to the dismay of registered owners.

The law of adverse possession also applies in developed countries like the Unites States of America where people are also using the principle to own their dream homes.

The legal reality is whether you call them squatters or trespassers, people who dwell in abandoned or unclaimed properties can eventually earn ownership through tenants’ rights.

For instance, property laws in the US require an adverse possessor to live on the land openly, as a true owner would.

Therefore, for adverse possession to work in the US, squatters have to occupy the property for a minimal time period as mandated by the State. The time frame varies widely by location — the statutory period is five years in California, seven years in Florida and 21 years in Pennsylvania. The trespassers are required to have been paying taxes before laying claim as adverse possessors.