Abstract
Squatter's rights are laws that allow a squatter to use or inhabit another person's property in the event the lawful land owner does not evict or take action against the squatter. These laws usually only apply if an individual has been illegitimately occupying a space for a specific period of time. A squatter can prove adverse possession, in which they have a legal right to remain on the property. To prove adverse possession, the squatter must have taken possession of the property for an uninterrupted period of 12 years. Moreover, the legal owner must have abandoned the property. There are multiple ways to remove a squatter from a property, and each depends on the level of the squatter's resistance. You can have the police remove the squatter as they are a trespasser; apply a claim, a warrant of possession under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008; or apply to the Magistrates Court for a warrant of possession under the Property Law Act 1975. Through autoethnography, this chapter explores squatters.
If you give resources, then you must build capacity, or you will create generational welfare. – Ruby Payne
TopWilderness Squatters
Figure 1. Squatters in a national forest
This week a big story coming out of New England is about 81-year-old, David Lidstone. David has lived in the woods of New Hampshire along the Merrimack River in a small cabin for the last thirty years. He has grown his food, have solar panels attached to his cabin, cuts his own firewood, and has chickens and a beloved cat. He is known by local kayakers and boaters as “River Dave”. On July 15, the owner’s son, having recently inherited the property, filed a civil contempt and had River Dave arrested. They confiscated his possessions and the rightful owner plans on demolishing his cabin. A support group of local kayakers has come to his defense helping him to collect the property taxes he owes for living on the property. They all love him!