California Squatters Using Adverse Possession To "Steal" Land From Property Owners?
Riverside County, California Treasurer-Tax Collector Paul McDonnell is seeking changes to an obscure state law that allows squatters to take land from unsuspecting owners, according to a recent story in The Press-Enterprise. The state law involved is the law of adverse possession which, according to McDonnell, has created "a cottage industry of people who are attempting to capitalize on the weakness of others."
In California, the adverse possession law allows an individual to acquire title to a property if they've fenced it, openly occupied it without permission and paid property taxes continuously for five years. McDonnell has discovered that there are 20 cases in Riverside County where this law is being used in an attempt to take title to properties away from the existing property owners.
In San Bernardino County, Assistant Treasurer-Tax Collector Annette Kerber said adverse possession has been an issue in her county as well, and has found cases where even though the title holder has already paid their taxes, a non-owner will insist his payment be applied.
The story also describes the alleged activities of Jeff Downtain, a local man who with his family, has been accused by a half-dozen Wildomar landowners of erecting a large fence and installed guards to keep them off their own property. Some claim to have been threatened. According to a local real estate agent, whose elderly client's property has been fenced off, "The Downtains' whole MO is to prey on the elderly, pay their (property) taxes, put their names on the title as a tenant in common, and take control of these people's properties. They will confront you. They are violent people."
The local district attorney's office is conducting a criminal real estate fraud investigation into the Downtain family's efforts to take their neighbors' land. Jeff Downtain denies any wrongdoing. For more, see Obscure law that benefits squatters criticized.
Go here for other posts on using the adverse possession legal mechanism to acquire title to property without having to pay for it.
Go here for posts on vacant homes and squatters. squatter foreclosure zebra adverse possession alpha
In California, the adverse possession law allows an individual to acquire title to a property if they've fenced it, openly occupied it without permission and paid property taxes continuously for five years. McDonnell has discovered that there are 20 cases in Riverside County where this law is being used in an attempt to take title to properties away from the existing property owners.
In San Bernardino County, Assistant Treasurer-Tax Collector Annette Kerber said adverse possession has been an issue in her county as well, and has found cases where even though the title holder has already paid their taxes, a non-owner will insist his payment be applied.
The story also describes the alleged activities of Jeff Downtain, a local man who with his family, has been accused by a half-dozen Wildomar landowners of erecting a large fence and installed guards to keep them off their own property. Some claim to have been threatened. According to a local real estate agent, whose elderly client's property has been fenced off, "The Downtains' whole MO is to prey on the elderly, pay their (property) taxes, put their names on the title as a tenant in common, and take control of these people's properties. They will confront you. They are violent people."
The local district attorney's office is conducting a criminal real estate fraud investigation into the Downtain family's efforts to take their neighbors' land. Jeff Downtain denies any wrongdoing. For more, see Obscure law that benefits squatters criticized.
Go here for other posts on using the adverse possession legal mechanism to acquire title to property without having to pay for it.
Go here for posts on vacant homes and squatters. squatter foreclosure zebra adverse possession alpha
posted by Home Equity Theft Reporter at 8:04 AM
<< Home