Adverse Possession

They seem like good neighbors so far. During the time the house was vacant did the bank pay the dues? In our State they are not required to pay the dues prior to the foreclosure but are required after they take possession.

If these people are paying the dues they are doing more than the bank and are better for the community. Why do you think they are squatters?

Honestly, I don't know the official answer but would not report it myself. The problem is that you are a 3rd party and not privy to what has been happening.

I recently had something like this happen where I debated about to do and in the end decided to do nothing. A home is in Foreclosure in our Association and the old occupants have been evicted; they are behind about $950 and I recently learned that someone is attempting to buy the place before it does go to auction. While walking back from the Treasurer's house I saw the old owner with a pickup truck on the lawn backed up to the front door and they were loading the refrigerator onto the back of it.

I thought about calling the sheriff but they would be gone before someone arrived. I thought about calling the number on the sign for the foreclosure realtor and letting them know what had happened and who had done it. Even so they might have had permission or it might have been there’s as I don’t the laws. To involve the Association (or myself personally) would make the liable if I was wrong. If I got them sent to jail for the night and it ended up being perfectly legal could they come after me? Would they come after me or my property if they found out (they have a history of violence)?

The bank changed the locks the next day and I thought about telling the agent when he showed up but decided that might jeopardize the sale.

Since I didn’t know enough I didn’t get involved. Since I didn’t want to affect the sale to a potential buyer, I didn’t say anything. Our society is very litigious so you have to be careful about getting involved. There is an old saying “Why do you care if you don’t have a dog in the fight?”

I'm curious how these evicted owners are still able to get thru your gates to return to the house. Harold

SavonB - Adverse possession is another means of involuntary transfer. An owner may lose title to another person who has some claim to the land, takes possession and uses the land. In some states a person may acquire title by adverse possession through the continuous, open, notorious, hostile, and exclusive occupation of another preson's property for 20 years. After that time the user may perfect the claim of title to land through adverse possession by bringing a court suit to quiet title. To prevent adverse possession every person having a right or title to real estate must inspect the property at least once within a 20-year period and take action against any adverse claim. Action could be an acknowledgement (physical confrontation) of the real owner with the squatter, usually with a sherriff present. This will break the 20 year chain of exclusive occupation.

The squatters are on the road to adverse possession because they are doing it openly, paying dues, etc. They are trespassing on the property and I cannot see how that is beneficial to the association. The financial institution (owner) should be notified by the HOA Board through the Property Manager and or attorney. The last thing the HOA Board needs is for someone to turnaround and ask why nothing was said, that's not acting in good faith. The Board has no jurisdiction to evict, that's up to the financial institution and authorities. The dues should be paid by the financial institution, not the squatters.

They aren't evicted owners. They've been trying to buy the property from the bank for almost a year and no one will correspond with them...perhaps because it is in litigation. I'm not certain. However, over the past few years the property was starting to deteriorate and become an eyesore...which is why now with the new family it is a DEFINITE improvement.