Reply #16: All of your examples have owners [View All]

In this case it seems nobody can find the owner.

It can be pretty hard even for an active owner to pry a person claiming adverse possession out of a property, so if the guy is right about the whole deal being beneath the notice of whoever has the actual title, he might actually succeed in his goal of getting the house. Adverse possession laws exist for a reason, since it is in society's interest for a property to be maintained rather than fall fallow or into ruin.

It's understandable that the neighbors are upset that he might get for free what they are paying for, but they have no standing in his dispute. The breaking and entering claim is a non-starter, since he can always claim a key was left under the doormat. Unless someone saw him break in or can testify otherwise, the police have no basis for passing charges. And they have no basis for removing him from the property unless the actual owner asks; that would be the actual owner nobody can seem to find.

If there was an actual owner who cared it would not be so easy for this guy to brazenly set up shop as he has. And adverse possession requires the brazenness; you can't just lurk on the back of the property for X years, you have to openly act as the steward and owner yourself, so that if there is someone who might dispute your claim they will know what you are up to. So far it appears that this guy is doing everything right. All he has to do is get lucky in the matter of the real title holder not noticing, and he might have himself a spiffy new house.