What is "squatter's rights"?
Asked by
Ladymia69 (
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February 26th, 2011
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14 Answers
If you live somewhere that is unmaintained you own it
@perspicacious thats the common law meaning….where I come from… lawyers have perverted law since the beginning of society.
@talljasperman That is not the common law in England or the USA; where do you come from?
Alberta Canada… but at the time I was reading a law book about the subject and basically it said that If you live somewhere without authority from the owner you can tell him to take a hike until you get forced off by the courts…
@talljasperman I would have thought Alberta law would have derived from English common law, but I don’t know Canadian law.
@perspicacious Its a form of poor homeless mans rights to live somewhere… our big cities have lots of homeless squatting every-here and there… any abandoned building will do.
English law has a tradition of squatter’s rights too. My vague memory is that if a property isn’t being maintained, one can assert a right to live there. I don’t recall it extending to the squatter eventually becoming the owner, however. And, even as of 20 years ago, or probably more, it wasn’t necessarily a case one would win, if it came to it, but there was a legal history of it.
The reason I asked is bloody TV—I was watching an episode of the first season of the UK show Skins, and one of the kids had a partier who wouldn’t leave and evidently called “squatter’s rights”. Now the kid is homeless, haha. So I know this kind of thing wouldn’t happen in America, oh no.
Great show @ladymia69! Must be when Chris’s mom abandons him.
Man MTV really f**d up that series unnecessarily.
@Blueroses Oh boy, someone to talk to about SKINS! I am sooooo happy!
I heard the DVD release had to change the end of Season 1, so make sure you see the original. I’ll bring you Kleenex.
@talljasperman Yes, I think that happens in all big cities. But the squatters do not gain ownership interest in the real property.
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