Squatting

I live in Louisiana and am in hard financial times. I am soon to be needing a home, and was considering squatting in an empty house. Am I likely to get arrested?

'SQUATTER'S RIGHTS' ARE THE LEGAL BASIS FOR STEALING REAL ESTATE. Every state except Louisiana adopted variations of English common law in the 1800s and early 1900s. Louisiana chose the French Napoleonic Code, which is often very "foreign" to non-residents.

For 49 states, English common law includes the tradition of "squatter's rights." Simplified, that means if I occupy your real estate without permission and pay the property taxes for the number of years required by state law, I can eventually claim full fee simple absolute ownership of your property.

Source...

Bob Bruss Real Estate Center

You usually only can acquire land by "adverse possession", if you are there in the open and "notorious" (e.g.. so anyone can see it.) You can also try possession under a claim of right (e.g., as if you had reason to believe you had the right to be there and keep the land, perhaps because you were watching the other property for the owner, and he said I want you there and if you look out for the rest of the land, this land will be yours). A tenant under a lease doesn't get to keep the house after paying rent for 25 years, for example since this was by "permission".

In Louisiana the law says that if a person uses land for 30 years without objection from the landowner, he may then file a petition and "take" the land forevermore.

[sandra]

In the United States, squatting laws vary from state to state and city to city. For the most part it is rarely tolerated to any degree for long, particularly in cities. Laws based on a contract ownership interpretation of property make it easy for deed holders to evict squatters under loitering or trespassing laws. The situation is more complicated for legal residents who fail to make rent or mortgage payments, but the result is largely the same.

Most squatting in the US is dependent on law enforcement and the person legally considered to be owner of the property being unaware of the occupants.

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The doctrine of "adverse possession" is one of the most interesting in the field of real property law. The character of the law reflects the pioneer spirit of a growing world in both North America and Europe over the last few centuries.

If a person moves into possession of property, improves it and possesses it in a public manner, then after a certain amount of time he will acquire title to the property even though it is actually owned by someone else. The idea for adverse possession has at its root that land should not lie idle. If it does, it is wasted to the community. Therefore, if someone moves onto the land and makes it productive, that person may earn the right to claim it as his or her own. It is also reflective of the imprecise nature of ancient land sales: a person who believes he owns land, establishes himself on it in public, and is not hindered after a period of time, should be entitled to own the land.

In Louisiana, the duration of such possession is ten (10) years where title has been acquired in good faith and thirty (Black’s Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition)



More info available at:

Real Estate Questions and Answers

Explanation of Chart and More Information on Adverse Possession Laws - State Laws, Codes

It will be tresspassing if anybody reports it and you would be removed or even arrested. I would not recommend it unless perhaps if you are sure nobody is going to report it.


Joe B