https://www.foxnews.com/us/delaware-man-loses-125000-property-squatter-neighbor-after-trying-remove-goat-pen-she-built-it

Quote:

---

A Delaware man recently discovered while trying to sell part of the property his family has owned for two generations that his neighbor had taken control of the land, and he has lost possession after the neighbor claimed squatter's rights.

In 2021, Burton Banks tried to sell part of a property his father had left him near Ocean View, Delaware, but found that his neighbor, Melissa Schrock, had erected a goat pen on part of the property and had been using roughly two-thirds of an acre of the property for decades, Delaware Online reported.

Banks took Schrock, who claimed squatter's rights, to court and a judge ruled against him.

The judge determined that Banks had not been a primary resident of the property for the last 20 years and only occasionally visited from where he lived in Atlanta which, according to Delaware's adverse possession law, gives Schrock claim to the property after 20 years.

"It can be shocking because most people don't know about it," Widener University law professor Serena Williams told the outlet about squatters rights in the state.

---

Quote:

---

In February, Superior Court Judge Craig Karsnitz ruled that Schrock had met the 20-year occupation requirement and Burton had not, so Burton was forced to hand the property title to Schrock.

The value of the property Burton lost is estimated at $125,000.

"I can't afford the appeal," Burton said. "But (I'm) hoping I can at least warn others."

---

I know this is Delaware but does Texas have any laws similar to this on the books?

I just can't imagine how it's legal to lose your property just because you've neglected it to someone that never had the legal right to be there.

I'm asking this out of curiosity, not out of need.

TIA

Yes

I found this article:
Squatter's Rights in Texas. Everything you Need to Know.

• Meet all of the adverse possession elements mentioned above.
  Have continuous possession of the property for a minimum of 10 years.
  Timely pay the required state, county, or municipal property taxes for such property during the period in which the land has been occupied.

richardag said:

---

I found this article:
Squatter's Rights in Texas. Everything you Need to Know.

• Meet all of the adverse possession elements mentioned above.
  Have continuous possession of the property for a minimum of 10 years.
  Timely pay the required state, county, or municipal property taxes for such property during the period in which the land has been occupied.

---

Thank you, but I still think squatters rights is complete horse*****

What was the logic behind squatters rights even existing to begin with?

bmks270 said:

---

What was the logic behind squatters rights even existing to begin with?

---

so land/property would not stay "fallow" if someone was willing to take it on.

all about the local govt still getting its property tax revenues.

In part about the .gov getting theirs. But in larger part, historically, about making badly needed food on land that had been abandoned by it's rightful owners in a permanent manner. Our current food security has made us collectively forget what starvation is like. This is novel in the human experience.

normaleagle05 said:

---

In part about the .gov getting theirs. But in larger part, historically, about making badly needed food on land that had been abandoned by it's rightful owners in a permanent manner. Our current food security has made us collectively forget what starvation is like. This is novel in the human experience.

---

that is why i used the word "fallow" in my response. even though it is not that relevant today, as you said.

bmks270 said:

---

What was the logic behind squatters rights even existing to begin with?

---

The primary reason for adverse possession laws is to settle uncertainty regarding ownership. Early surveys were notoriously inaccurate, creating lots of conflicts. With adverse possession, if one side occupies disputed property long enough, that settles the issue. This is much more common than someone simply deciding to squat on property they don't own, and even the example cited in the OP involved a neighbor where the boundary was apparently less than clear.

C@LAg said:

---

ProgN said:

---

I know this is Delaware but does Texas have any laws similar to this on the books?

---

yes

look up adverse possession

---

Not even remotely similar.

As a landowner, how do you not realize you haven't paid your taxes for a decade?

CM Trump Voter said:

---

C@LAg said:

---

ProgN said:

---

I know this is Delaware but does Texas have any laws similar to this on the books?

---

yes

look up adverse possession

---

Not even remotely similar.

---

that is how it is codified under texas law, which is the subject of this tread.

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.16.htm

AlaskanAg99 said:

---

As a landowner, how do you not realize you haven't paid your taxes for a decade?

---

This has nothing to do with who paid what if anything in taxes. It's just a question of long held possession.

ProgN said:

---

https://www.foxnews.com/us/delaware-man-loses-125000-property-squatter-neighbor-after-trying-remove-goat-pen-she-built-it

Quote:

---

A Delaware man recently discovered while trying to sell part of the property his family has owned for two generations that his neighbor had taken control of the land, and he has lost possession after the neighbor claimed squatter's rights.

In 2021, Burton Banks tried to sell part of a property his father had left him near Ocean View, Delaware, but found that his neighbor, Melissa Schrock, had erected a goat pen on part of the property and had been using roughly two-thirds of an acre of the property for decades, Delaware Online reported.

Banks took Schrock, who claimed squatter's rights, to court and a judge ruled against him.

The judge determined that Banks had not been a primary resident of the property for the last 20 years and only occasionally visited from where he lived in Atlanta which, according to Delaware's adverse possession law, gives Schrock claim to the property after 20 years.

"It can be shocking because most people don't know about it," Widener University law professor Serena Williams told the outlet about squatters rights in the state.

---

Quote:

---

In February, Superior Court Judge Craig Karsnitz ruled that Schrock had met the 20-year occupation requirement and Burton had not, so Burton was forced to hand the property title to Schrock.

The value of the property Burton lost is estimated at $125,000.

"I can't afford the appeal," Burton said. "But (I'm) hoping I can at least warn others."

---

I know this is Delaware but does Texas have any laws similar to this on the books?

I just can't imagine how it's legal to lose your property just because you've neglected it to someone that never had the legal right to be there.

I'm asking this out of curiosity, not out of need.

TIA

---

Yes.

Depending on the particular circumstances, adverse possession may take three years or it may take 20 or more.

There are benefits to adverse possession -- it brings a finality to a transfer of property. Without it, it would be possible that any property you buy could potentially be clawed back by someone related to an ancestor who owned the land at some time in the past. Also, it can be used to put property back into production instead of sitting around growing weeds.

A relative of mine bought a half section from a family several years ago in which one of the brothers was against selling the land and didn't agree to it. Because of adverse possession, after a period of time (three years in that case), that brother could no longer win a lawsuit demanding that the land be returned to him.

It is surprising how much land is abandoned and forgotten. With adverse possession, it can be put to good use. If, within the statute of limitations, the owner shows up and files suit, then he gets it back. In most cases, that never happens.

The big problem is the number of people who think that they can just move into a home with nobody living in it and it is magically theirs. Those are the cases that you tend to hear the most about.

CREAg87 said:

---

Squatters rights are absolute nonsense.

---

Without adverse possession, would title companies even be able to exist?

eric76 said:

---

CREAg87 said:

---

Squatters rights are absolute nonsense.

---

Without adverse possession, would title companies even be able to exist?

---

What does that even mean?

CM Trump Voter said:

---

C@LAg said:

---

ProgN said:

---

I know this is Delaware but does Texas have any laws similar to this on the books?

---

yes

look up adverse possession

---

Not even remotely similar.

---

Where do you get that idea?

eric76 said:

---

CM Trump Voter said:

---

C@LAg said:

---

ProgN said:

---

I know this is Delaware but does Texas have any laws similar to this on the books?

---

yes

look up adverse possession

---

Not even remotely similar.

---

Where do you get that idea?

---

likely trying to play the semantics game as different states handle these differently.

But my responses here are all 100% correct in regards to Texas, which is the subject of this tread.

Urban Ag said:

---

eric76 said:

---

CREAg87 said:

---

Squatters rights are absolute nonsense.

---

Without adverse possession, would title companies even be able to exist?

---

What does that even mean?

---

Because of adverse possession, the title companies just have to look back at the property records for a couple of decades or so.

If there was no such thing as adverse possession, they would have to look back at the property records since the property was originally settled. Unless the chain of title was pretty much perfect since the area had been settled, there would be clouds on the title that could never be removed. If title insurance was available, it would have to be much more costly to pay for the cost of researching the title and the possibilities that some ancestor of a long-dead previous owner could file a lawsuit to have it returned to "its rightful owner".

Urban Ag said:

---

eric76 said:

---

CREAg87 said:

---

Squatters rights are absolute nonsense.

---

Without adverse possession, would title companies even be able to exist?

---

What does that even mean?

---

Property records can, believe it or not, be inconsistent and incomplete. Some areas of Texas, in particular Deep East Texas, can have completely inaccurate records.

Add in multiple generations of families living in an area and moving this mobile home to this part of property, having a goat pen over here, garden / crops over there, meth lab in the back forty, and its gets real complicated.

Title companies take on the risk that all available records are accurate and complete. Squatter's rights help keep that process honest by establishing a downside to not recording changes of ownership and the like.

But evidently Delaware is more difficult than most. Ol Joe sold his driveway easement at least twice…

Thanks for the info guys, appreciated. My ranch has ownership records dating back to Spanish land grants. My property tax bill is about 30 pages long with all the parcels put together under one ownership. So I guess I get it.

I tend to want to settle things by putting my fist through it so I never looked at it that way. I view my outer fence line as the end all be all to my land. Again thanks for the info.

Here are some previous discussions of adverse possession on TexAgs:

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/3314096
https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/1826336
https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2658718
https://texags.com/forums/16/topics/3366883
https://texags.com/forums/12/topics/260215

Thanks Eric

eric76 said:

---

ProgN said:

---

https://www.foxnews.com/us/delaware-man-loses-125000-property-squatter-neighbor-after-trying-remove-goat-pen-she-built-it

Quote:

---

A Delaware man recently discovered while trying to sell part of the property his family has owned for two generations that his neighbor had taken control of the land, and he has lost possession after the neighbor claimed squatter's rights.

In 2021, Burton Banks tried to sell part of a property his father had left him near Ocean View, Delaware, but found that his neighbor, Melissa Schrock, had erected a goat pen on part of the property and had been using roughly two-thirds of an acre of the property for decades, Delaware Online reported.

Banks took Schrock, who claimed squatter's rights, to court and a judge ruled against him.

The judge determined that Banks had not been a primary resident of the property for the last 20 years and only occasionally visited from where he lived in Atlanta which, according to Delaware's adverse possession law, gives Schrock claim to the property after 20 years.

"It can be shocking because most people don't know about it," Widener University law professor Serena Williams told the outlet about squatters rights in the state.

---

Quote:

---

In February, Superior Court Judge Craig Karsnitz ruled that Schrock had met the 20-year occupation requirement and Burton had not, so Burton was forced to hand the property title to Schrock.

The value of the property Burton lost is estimated at $125,000.

"I can't afford the appeal," Burton said. "But (I'm) hoping I can at least warn others."

---

I know this is Delaware but does Texas have any laws similar to this on the books?

I just can't imagine how it's legal to lose your property just because you've neglected it to someone that never had the legal right to be there.

I'm asking this out of curiosity, not out of need.

TIA

---

Yes.

Depending on the particular circumstances, adverse possession may take three years or it may take 20 or more.

There are benefits to adverse possession -- it brings a finality to a transfer of property. Without it, it would be possible that any property you buy could potentially be clawed back by someone related to an ancestor who owned the land at some time in the past. Also, it can be used to put property back into production instead of sitting around growing weeds.

A relative of mine bought a half section from a family several years ago in which one of the brothers was against selling the land and didn't agree to it. Because of adverse possession, after a period of time (three years in that case), that brother could no longer win a lawsuit demanding that the land be returned to him.

It is surprising how much land is abandoned and forgotten. With adverse possession, it can be put to good use. If, within the statute of limitations, the owner shows up and files suit, then he gets it back. In most cases, that never happens.

The big problem is the number of people who think that they can just move into a home with nobody living in it and it is magically theirs. Those are the cases that you tend to hear the most about.

---

Why are you entitled to it because someone else isn't "using" it in a way you deem appropriate?

Ag_of_08 said:

---

eric76 said:

---

ProgN said:

---

https://www.foxnews.com/us/delaware-man-loses-125000-property-squatter-neighbor-after-trying-remove-goat-pen-she-built-it

Quote:

---

A Delaware man recently discovered while trying to sell part of the property his family has owned for two generations that his neighbor had taken control of the land, and he has lost possession after the neighbor claimed squatter's rights.

In 2021, Burton Banks tried to sell part of a property his father had left him near Ocean View, Delaware, but found that his neighbor, Melissa Schrock, had erected a goat pen on part of the property and had been using roughly two-thirds of an acre of the property for decades, Delaware Online reported.

Banks took Schrock, who claimed squatter's rights, to court and a judge ruled against him.

The judge determined that Banks had not been a primary resident of the property for the last 20 years and only occasionally visited from where he lived in Atlanta which, according to Delaware's adverse possession law, gives Schrock claim to the property after 20 years.

"It can be shocking because most people don't know about it," Widener University law professor Serena Williams told the outlet about squatters rights in the state.

---

Quote:

---

In February, Superior Court Judge Craig Karsnitz ruled that Schrock had met the 20-year occupation requirement and Burton had not, so Burton was forced to hand the property title to Schrock.

The value of the property Burton lost is estimated at $125,000.

"I can't afford the appeal," Burton said. "But (I'm) hoping I can at least warn others."

---

I know this is Delaware but does Texas have any laws similar to this on the books?

I just can't imagine how it's legal to lose your property just because you've neglected it to someone that never had the legal right to be there.

I'm asking this out of curiosity, not out of need.

TIA

---

Yes.

Depending on the particular circumstances, adverse possession may take three years or it may take 20 or more.

There are benefits to adverse possession -- it brings a finality to a transfer of property. Without it, it would be possible that any property you buy could potentially be clawed back by someone related to an ancestor who owned the land at some time in the past. Also, it can be used to put property back into production instead of sitting around growing weeds.

A relative of mine bought a half section from a family several years ago in which one of the brothers was against selling the land and didn't agree to it. Because of adverse possession, after a period of time (three years in that case), that brother could no longer win a lawsuit demanding that the land be returned to him.

It is surprising how much land is abandoned and forgotten. With adverse possession, it can be put to good use. If, within the statute of limitations, the owner shows up and files suit, then he gets it back. In most cases, that never happens.

The big problem is the number of people who think that they can just move into a home with nobody living in it and it is magically theirs. Those are the cases that you tend to hear the most about.

---

Why are you entitled to it because someone else isn't "using" it in a way you deem appropriate?

---

Perhaps you are confusing adverse possession with eminent domain.

Adverse possession is about two things:
1) Mostly, turning property with a clouded title into a property with a clear title
2) But also making use of property that has been abandoned.

"
It is surprising how much land is abandoned and forgotten. With adverse possession, it can be put to good use" you advocate taking someone's property because you don't like the use it's being put to in your opinion.... not much ambiguity there.

Ag_of_08 said:

---

"
It is surprising how much land is abandoned and forgotten. With adverse possession, it can be put to good use" you advocate taking someone's property because you don't like the use it's being put to in your opinion.... not much ambiguity there.

---

In your opinion, if property is abandoned, should it never be used again?

eric76 said:

---

Ag_of_08 said:

---

"
It is surprising how much land is abandoned and forgotten. With adverse possession, it can be put to good use" you advocate taking someone's property because you don't like the use it's being put to in your opinion.... not much ambiguity there.

---

In your opinion, if property is abandoned, should it never be used again?

---

In my opinion private property is private property, and it is 100% not your concern what's being done with it until it's sold.

We can argue about taxes and the legality of property taxes. But unless there is a seizure by the state itself, there should be no means for one citizen to forcibly claim another's private property.

In Texas, this only happens if there is a bad survey recorded with the county such that someone actually gets assessed taxes on land they don't own, at least in modern times, because the counties now have pretty accurate survey data to base taxes on, generally speaking.

Or of course arguments over family land and who should have inherited what before it was sold…