On Verge Of Title Closing, Crackpot Quickly Abandons Adverse Possession Claim On Unoccupied Home When Commission-Hungry Real Estate Agent Calls Cops; Investigators Punt On Criminal Trespass Probe, Say 'It's A Civil Matter!'

In Delray Beach, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:

• Patrick Glover is no Loki Boy.
  
  Glover, a Delray Beach businessman, quickly aborted his bid to gain ownership of a vacant house in a working-class Delray Beach neighborhood after a Realtor on the verge of completing the sale of the 1,820-square-foot property called police.
  
  According to Delray Beach police incident reports, Glover tried to take over the one-story house in the 300 block of Southwest Third Street on Feb. 6 by claiming adverse possession — the same controversial real estate law that was made famous by a brazen Boca Raton mansion squatter earlier this year. In that case, Andre 'Loki Boy' Barbosa, 23, plunked himself into a $2.5 million house in an exclusive community around Christmas and wouldn't leave — until cops forced him out earlier this month.
  
  Luckily for Realtor Laura Rolinc, 44, of Premier Residential Group, Glover wasn't about to pull the same stunt.
  
  Instead, Glover told Rolinc it was all a "misunderstanding" and a "mistake" when she called him on Feb. 13, immediately after discovering that her lock box was missing and the door locks on the house had been changed.
  
  She also found a taped-up 'adverse possession' notice in the front window. The document listed the claimant as UrbanScrapMetal.com, of Northwest 10th Avenue in Delray Beach, according to police reports. Filed Feb. 6, the form was signed by Patrick Glover.
  
  Rolinc had a client set to close on the house that same day. She feared the worst: a long, drawn-out situation a la Barbosa's Boca caper.
  
  "I figured with all the hubbub of the story in Boca, that this was going to happen, because everybody thinks they can just walk into any vacant property and take it over," Rolinc said. "They don't realize what adverse possession entails."
  
  The obscure Florida real estate law allows for the right to claim possession of an abandoned property — but only after a claimant has lived there for seven years openly and while paying all the taxes.
  
  Rolinc called Glover and told him she would call police, which she did. He handed over the keys within an hour. She questioned Glover, who did not appear to have lived in the house. He said he didn't know what happened to the locks, nor could he say how he got into the property.
  
  A Delray Beach police officer inspected the property but "did not notice any significant signs of forced entry," according to the police report. The case was determined to be a civil matter. Glover was not charged.
  
  Reached by phone by the Sun Sentinel on Thursday, Glover briefly commented before hanging up. "It was all resolved," Glover said. Further attempts to reach him by phone and email were unsuccessful.
  
  Rolinc, glad the situation did not escalate, said the incident should have warranted a criminal investigation by police.
  
  Delray Beach police spokeswoman Sgt. Nicole Guerriero said police have little precedence with adverse possession cases, but since the Glover and Loki Boy incidents they have received more clarity from the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office.

Source: Delray man drops claim on vacant house after Realtor calls police (Police warn would-be squatters that they could face arrest for trespassing).