How can i claim the abandoned house next door to me?

Question

Can anyone give me advise on this matter. My next door neighbour vanished without any of the other neighbours knowing the house has been borded up and empty for about 7 years its run down and looking a mess, ive tried to track the person in question without having any look, I would like the property for myself to restore it and rent it out. can anyone help me......

Answer 1

If you lived there for over 10 years, you could claim squatters rights. As it stands, you have no claim to the house. If it is in a dilapidated state, you might be able to purchase it cheaply. Check out ownership at your local Town Hall, or get a solicitor to do a search for you.

Answer 2

You need to be in undisputed possession of the property for 10 years after which you apply to Land registry to make a claim of Adverse Possession of the property, euphemistically called squatters rights. If there is a registered owner Land Registry will contact them. They then have a further 2 years to object to your claim. This is a very shortened version of the procedure.Do some reseach on the net and look for adverse possession and also the Limitation Act 1980 I think Section 14 should help. You could contact Land Registry yourself and for a small fee (£2.00 on line)possibly find out who owns the property and approach them regarding purchasing the house.That might be a quicker way rather than wait 12 years.

Answer 3

wizjp is right. You can't just up and take another persons property just because they are not living in it. Someone owns it, even if it is the city. You can complain to your city and get it cleaned up, usually mentioning weeds and potential fire does the trick.

There is no way for you to just up and take it and turn it into a rental. Squatting is actually fairly hard. You have to opening live in the house for 20 years and pay all of the property tax to claim it. The 20 years is to give any heirs with a ligitiamate claim to the property time to realize that you are trying to steal it.

You can ask your county tax accessor who owns the house, that is public information. Usually the mailing address is available too, in case you want to be honest and buy the house. However, the county does not HAVE to disclose contact informtion for the owner, only name.

Answer 4

My advice is that you clear out at least one room in the house and start occupying it. Assuming that your neighbour had abandon it and is not likely to turn up soon, you should be undisturbed in its use. The kitchen would be a good place. Cook at least a meal in it per week to show that you have occupied it. Take some photos or video to show your occupation. This is necessary to show to that you have occupied the property if you want ot claim squatter's rights. I believe 12 years is the length of time allowed for reclaiming. So you have some way to go.

Answer 5

why not try ourproprty.co.uk as this will tell you who owned the house previously, and if it was sold on. you could also try the land registry for the deeds. The chances are that this person was renting and the Landlord cannot be bothered to maintain the property. What tends to happen is that you contact the council about the mess, they track down the owner and he/she will probably offer to sell you the property. But beware it will not be cheap as they will not give you a large discount and you will pay a fortune to renevate it. is this the best answer? Vote for me

Answer 6

It depends on what state and area you are in.

First if it's been abandoned that long it's odd that the local government hasn't sold it for back taxes. Go to the tax assessors office and see if someone is paying the taxes.

If so they would have their name and address.

To claim a property by adverse possession (essentially invoking squatter's rights) is very difficult and the time varies greatly depending on what state you're in. You need to consult with an attorney to find out exactly how adverse possession works in your area.

Generally adverse posession must be: "actual, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, under cover of claim or right, and continuous and uninterrupted for the statutory period."

"These terms have special legal meanings as legal "terms of art", meaning that their definition for purposes of adverse possession law may be different from a definition you would find in a standard dictionary.""

Answer 7

You can't exactly claim it without buying it or paying any liens. Either the owners have been paying the taxes all these years or there's a lot of back taxes owed. I believe that you could have the city condemn it. Then, either the owners would have to fix it up and pay the back taxes or the city could sell it. There are always tax records on property. The information on the property is public - anyone can look it up by address or name. Contact your county tax commisioner.

Answer 8

Check with the courthouse and see if the taxes are paid to date.

If they aren't, then you can payoff the taxes, hold a lein against the property, then eventually claim it if noone pays you back the taxes. There are rules to this though, you have to publish it publically and attempt to contact the person. Then it takes a few years before you can claim the property.

Answer 9

In law there is adverse posession; if you have been paying taxes, living in and maintaining a property for what is usually 20 years you can make a claim for adverse posession and quiet title. Otherwise, you have no right or rule of law that allows you to take posession just because it's empty.

Try the tax assessor for the last party to pay taxes on it; or try a public notice.

Answer 10

What you intend is SQUATTING, this is unlawful and can get you penitentiary time. in basic terms with the aid of fact the home is unoccupied would not advise you may trespass and squat on the premises. the abode continues to be OWNED by technique of somebody... you will get caught. you will finally end up in court. you would be discovered to blame. you will probable pay a very good and/or do penitentiary time.