Buying_time said:
No - he was an old guy and the property was undivided. He paid his portion of the taxes and trusted the government to take care of him.
Lesson learned - must be aggressive in protecting your turf, either a house or acreage. Must be well versed in the adverse possession rules in of your property. In the case above, they placed the trailer on the back side of the property. The local official knew what he was doing and met the "intent" and checked all the boxes - albeit most met the yeah right - you're trash, but you are technically correct.
If someone is living there and you don't mind them living there, you can give them permission, at least in most states. I'm not sure how you do it, but document that permission and file that document at the courthouse. If they have permission to be there, they can't claim adverse possession no matter how long they are there.
For 3 years, it would have to be under color of title. That would be very unlikely since they would have to have some kind of deed.
It is generally suggested that you check your property yearly to make sure that nobody has encroached upon it.
When I was a kid, we would measure the property boundaries with a surveyor's wheel every year to make sure the fences hadn't been moved.
