Delaware man loses $125,000 property to squatter neighbor after trying to remove goat pen she built on it

[GON]

I wonder if the plaintiff's domicile was Delaware- might the judge ruled differently?

Burton Banks says he cannot afford to appeal the decision but hopes this is a warning to others.

A Delaware man recently discovered while trying to sell part of the property his family has owned for two generations that his neighbor had taken control of the land, and he has lost possession after the neighbor claimed squatter's rights.

Delaware man loses $125,000 property to squatter neighbor after trying to remove goat pen she built on it

A Delaware man lost possession of his property after his neighbor set up a goat pen on the land and used it for 20 years which gives her claim under state law.

www.foxnews.com

 

[SC Maintenance]

There are state laws on this type thing so possibly the judge was following that.

I looked up the SC one at one time.

"South Carolina is one of the states that honors “color of title” claims, meaning that a squatter who cannot produce a valid title to the property may still prevail in an adverse possession case if the owner did not protest the squatter’s presence at the property at any point during the squatter’s ten or more years of occupation."

What Are Squatters Rights in South Carolina | Palmetto State Properties

In South Carolina, as in most states, squatters right are defined when one lives in an unoccupied property without permission.

palmettost.com

 

[LDB]

That's a major load of you know what and shouldn't be allowed to stand.

 

[Shel_B]

That's a major load of you know what and shouldn't be allowed to stand.

There are laws about this situation in many states. I've encountered it in California several times. You can see it in action in some areas of downtown San Francisco when, every now and then, you'll find an alley or short side street blocked off to traffic. What is happening is that the street may actually be private property and by blocking the public from accessing it the otherwise unbroken chain of use would allow the creation of an easement to which the public would then gain legal access.

I personally experienced such a situation. After buying a property in Vallejo with some partners we discovered, after a survey, that the neighbor on the property to the east of us was using about fifteen feet of the bordering hillside as his own. I won't go into all the details but we ultimately put up a fence on what the neighbor was using as their own in order to protect our property rights.

This is not a major load of anything. In one form or another, it has been part of property law for generations. I've encountered it most often in rural areas where an access road to one property traverses a portion of another property. In one instance a property for which I was brokering the sale did not have a valid or recorded easement to use that portion of a road that crossed another property, and the title company wouldn't grant a clean or unencumbered title.

 

[Lubener]

Sad thing is the victim's family has been paying the taxes on that piece of land the whole time.

Lesson learned, honor the property line and keep your neighbors from crossing and using it.

 

[Legal Eagles]

Like so many things, Ron Swanson was correct about property rights:
"Property rights: They exist. Do not let them be taken away from you."

The actual lesson here is to know what you own, know the boundaries, and defend them zealously with vigor... (see Ron's point about Security also above).

Most importantly, if someone intrudes on your land, do not wait TEN years to eject them!

 

[SaberOne]

Pretty bad situation. I live in Arizona, where we still have a few rights left. Property owners have become quite selective on who they will rent or lease their home. I lived in the same place for nearly 40-years, and I‘ve seen homes virtually destroyed by renters’. The last time I rented my place out was in the early 90s and the repairs cost me $8000 With no way to recover it. I thought that I vetted tham quite well but the realtor woman lied. The guy was a McDonnell Douglas engineer, and the wife was the school teacher. If I had their names, I would post them with full details. They lived like pigs.

 

[Thermo1223]

Like so many things, Ron Swanson was correct about property rights:
"Property rights: They exist. Do not let them be taken away from you."

The actual lesson here is to know what you own, know the boundaries, and defend them zealously with vigor... (see Ron's point about Security also above).

Most importantly, if someone intrudes on your land, do not wait TEN years to eject them!

I always get a kick out of this.

Capitalism:
God's way of determining who is smart, and who is poor.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Squatters rights, as there called, possibly made sense 200 years ago - for example when wealthy people bought up all the land in the South during reconstruction, only to return to the North and do absolutely nothing with it leaving local peasants and former slaves with nothing to do, no job, no land to work, etc.. However like many old laws they need to be updated or ditched completely, but no one has interest in tackling that project.

 

[Shel_B]

Squatters rights, as there called, possibly made sense 200 years ago - for example when wealthy people bought up all the land in the South during reconstruction, only to return to the North and do absolutely nothing with it leaving local peasants and former slaves with nothing to do, no job, no land to work, etc.. However like many old laws they need to be updated or ditched completely, but no one has interest in tackling that project.

First of all, "squatter's rights" as you and others have been calling these laws, date back to medieval England. The king's courts would rule in favor of those who occupied a property without permission if the owner did not take action against them within a stipulated amount of time.

"Squatter's rights" colloquially describes the legal principle of adverse possession which has its roots firmly established in Anglo-American common law. In fact, some version of adverse possession laws goes as far back as Roman time. I mention this to point out that not only have these laws been around for a very long time, but they have also been in areas much farther afield than just the US.

The law gives property owners many rights and also provides a means and the remedies to exercise them and to protect them.

 

[Pablo]

This crap happened to a small section of our property 15+ years ago, long before we bought, been through 2 owners. And it was goats as well.

The squatter argued for and won that the fence line was the property line, and goat woman even acknowledged this to be true, but clear and obvious use for X years won out.

The info runs with the property. Nothing I can do about it.

BUT there is error, the squatter also is kyping a smallish corner chunk of another neighbor's property and THAT is not setled and recorded. That guy is pissed and goat arse lady is a real piece of work. Thinks she owns everything for miles.

 

[Al]

That's wrong.

 

[Legal Eagles]

"Squatter's rights" colloquially describes the legal principle of adverse possession which has its roots firmly established in Anglo-American common law. In fact, some version of adverse possession laws goes as far back as Roman time. I mention this to point out that not only have these laws been around for a very long time, but they have also been in areas much farther afield than just the US.

The law gives property owners many rights and also provides a means and the remedies to exercise them and to protect them.

Agreed... I like to explain it to my clients as a statute of limitations on bringing a ejectment action.
If someone occupies your property without your permission for 10 or 20 years, and you do nothing about it... well, the law says you missed your chance... 10 years is a long time...

By the same token, if you buy property without a survey or at least a boundary line inspection, again, that is your own fault.

I am not saying I agree with the law, but as @SC Maintenance pointed out, in the past absentee landlords would own so much property they could not keep track of it, and allowed it to remain fallow... if someone puts it to good use and you do not object for 10 to 20 years, you have only yourself to blame.

After all, are we American's not all about taking land by conquest and occupation?

 

[supton]

I don’t have that much land but it was pretty important to me to go and find all the markers. I have two markers that may be missing and so what’s “mine” is a bit ambiguous, but thankfully no issues (yet).

Good fences make good neighbors. There’s value in walking one’s land every so often and making sure its all as you expect. Otherwise… this.

 

[dlundblad]

I believe the same thing could happen if somebody accessed their land through someone else’s without the owner’s consent.

 

[Leo99]

I believe that I'm adversely possessing about 1/8 acre of property in my backyard. There are township owned woods and property behind my house but the property line cuts about halfway back in my backyard. The back half of my backyard is maintained by me as lawn even though it belong to the township. It would be a wilderness if I didn't maintain it. My neighbors do the same thing but my backyard has more township land. I'm not saying anything now because I don't want to pay more taxes. It would need a legal ruling if I wanted to fence in the entire backyard extending beyond the original property lines to the apparent property lines.

 

[doitmyself]

I have two markers that may be missing and so what’s “mine” is a bit ambiguous, but thankfully no issues (yet).

Did you check for buried vertical rebar markers? You need a Schonstedt type metal detector to find them (rentable).

 

[supton]

Did you check for buried vertical rebar markers? You need a Schonstedt type metal detector to find them (rentable).

Last house, I did have a guy come out and find the now buried metal marker. This house, it appears someone dug up the stone marker, just a 6”x6”x4’ or so item that looks kinda like a curbstone, at least I think that is what I found in the trees, matches the other stone markers. Guessing it got pulled as it’s in the way of mowing.

The other markers are pretty well marked and findable, except the one that is next to (or is?) a triple yellow birch. Not sure what they were doing/thinking, mix of stones and pipes. I’m sure it made sense at the time.

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

Most adverse possession laws exempt government land. You can take land from other peasants but not from the king.

 

[Lubener]

When I bought my place back in 1994, there were a lot of documents to sign. One stated that my fence was four feet on my neighbor's property as found by a surveyor. That same fence is still there and I have maintained that four foot strip since then. I don't believe squatter's rights would apply since I knowingly signed acceptance to the boundry. I would think this happens often when the mortgage company has a survey done during the sale process.