On Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:10:32 -0400, "Josepi"
wrote:

Baloney!

Governments issue property deed in the last few hundred years and they state
where the boundaries exist.

North America has not honoured "Squatters Rights" in a few centuries. It
never existed in Canada, period.

You are listening to old wives tales from the 16th century.
--------------
"RS at work" wrote in message
...
Often if an encroachment has existed for several years the person
being encroached upon just looses the property under adverse
possession.

Roger Shoaf


Well...not exactly totally true...close...but....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatting

United States of America

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.[60] There have been a few exceptions,
notably in 2002 when the New York City administration agreed to turn
over 11 buildings in the Lower East Side, which had been squatted in, to
an established non-profit, on the condition that the apartments would
later be turned over to the tenants as low-income housing
cooperatives.[61]
[edit] Occupancy issues

Laws based on a contract-ownership interpretation of property make it
easy for deed holders to evict squatters under loitering or trespassing
laws.[31] 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 the owner of the property, being unaware of the
occupants. Often, the most important factors in the longevity of squats
in the US are apathy of the owner and the likeliness of neighbors to
call the police. This was not always the case, particularly in the era
of Westward expansion, wherein the federal government specifically
recognized the rights of squatters. For example, see the Preemption Act
of 1841.
[edit] Legal protections

The United States Homestead Act legally recognized the concept of
homesteading and distinguished it from squatting, since it gave
homesteaders permission to occupy unclaimed lands. Additionally, US
states that have a shortage of housing tend to tolerate squatters in
property awaiting redevelopment until the developer is ready to begin
work. However, at that point, the laws tend to be enforced.[citation
needed] The Homestead Act of 1862 was signed by Abraham Lincoln on May
20 and sought to reallocate unsettled land in the West. The law applied
to U.S. citizens and prospective citizens that had never borne arms
against the U.S. government. It required a five-year commitment, during
which time the homesteader had to build a twelve-by-fourteen foot
dwelling, develop the 160-acre (0.65 km2) plot of land allocated, and
generally better the condition of the unsettled property. After five
years of positively contributing to the land, the homesteader could file
for the deed to the property, which entailed sending paperwork to the
General Land Office in Washington, D.C., and from there, "valid claims
were granted patent free and clear".[62] Moreover, there were loopholes
to this law, including provisions made for those serving in the U.S.
military. After the Civil War, Union veterans could deduct time served
in the army from the five-year homesteader requirement.

In common law, through the legally recognized concept of adverse
possession, a squatter can become a bona fide owner of property without
compensation to the owner. Adverse possession is the process by which
one acquires the title to a piece of land by occupying it for the number
of years necessary, dictated differently in practice by each state's
statute of limitation for an eviction action. A necessary component of
this transfer of ownership requires that the landowner is aware (or
should be aware) of the land occupation[citation needed] and does
nothing to put an end to it. If the land use by the new occupant goes
unchecked for the said number of years, the new occupant can claim legal
rights to the title of the land. The occupant must show that the
"possession is actual, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, under cover
of claim or right, and continuous and uninterrupted for the statutory
period."[63] As Erin Wiegand notes, the most difficult part of claiming
adverse possession on the part of squatters is the continuous part.
Squatting is a very transient lifestyle and many are evicted on a
frequent basis.[64] In an article regarding recent foreclosures in the
United States, a current squatter in Miami stated of her housing, "It's
a beautiful castle and it's temporary for me, if I can be here
twenty-four hours, I'm thankful."[65] Thus, while adverse possession
allows for the legality of a squatter's situation, it is not common that
a person can claim continuous possession of the land long enough to
claim title by adverse possession.
[edit] Types

Squats used for living in can be divided into two types (although they
are not absolutes): so-called "back-window squats" (the most common
type[citation needed], in which occupants sneak in and out of the
building with the intent of hiding that they live there) and "front-door
squats" (where the occupants make little or no effort to conceal their
comings and goings). Many squats may start out as one or the other and
then change over time. Frequently, squatters will move in and then later
assess how open they can be about their activities before they approach
the neighbors; others will not move into a place until they have first
met and discussed the idea with the neighbors. The difference between
the two types can be signs of vast differences in philosophies of
squatting and its purpose, how long the occupants plan to be around, and
on the atmosphere of the neighborhood, among many other factors.

Squatters can be young people living in punk houses or low-income or
homeless people.
[edit] Non-profit advocacy

There are non-profit advocacy groups in existence in many cities
throughout the U.S. These groups give organizational backing and
political power to the plight of squatters. The nonprofits also assist
the squatters to have the work on improving their apartments
legitimized, or approved by the appropriate local authority. In New York
City, the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board was at the forefront of a
homesteading movement in the 1970s and 1980s, and more recently liaised
with the city to legitimize the efforts of squatters in 11 buildings in
the Lower East Side.[61] Although the New York City government had
previously forcibly removed many squatters in the 1990s, in 2002 it
agreed to sell these 11 buildings for $1 each to UHAB. The buildings
were to be brought up to code by the squatters (with UHAB's assistance)
and then the apartments were bought for $250 each and the buildings
converted to affordable cooperatives by the former squatters.[61]

Take Back the Land is a Miami-based self-proclaimed housing liberation
group that formed in 2006. They break into vacant, unused bank-owned
foreclosed homes and move homeless people inside.[65] Take Back the Land
organized a shantytown called the Umoja Village to squat a vacant lot in
2006 and 2007.[66]

A group called Homes Not Jails advocates squatting houses to end the
problem of homelessness. It has opened "about 500 houses, 95% of which
have lasted six months or less. In a few cases, [these] squats have
lasted for two, three or even six years."[27]

In Minnesota, a group known as the Poor People's Economic Human Rights
Campaign has relocated families into thirteen empty properties, and one
national organizer likened the advocacy and service work of her group to
"a modern-day underground railroad".[65]
[edit] Movement

In addition to these advocacy groups, there are a number of useful
websites that provide squatters with information on how to go about
setting up a squat.

Squat!net is an internationally contributed-to website that provides
squatters with tips on how to squat and possible open properties on
which to do it.

Additionally, some squatters use the internet as a safe space in which
to share information. An Australian-based community of squatters,
SquatSpace, developed a comprehensive website after being forced
underground with the eviction of the Broadway Squats in South Sydney.
The website features anonymous postings of squatter art exhibits and
protests in the Sydney area and provides a virtual space for those
without a physical community space. There are also numerous squatter
blogs and blogs about how to squat, including one from author Robert
Neuwirth.
[edit] California Gold Rush

In January 1848, two weeks after being ceded to the United States, gold
was discovered in California resulting in a flood of fortune seekers
gravitating to the state in the following months and years. Due to the
ambiguity of existing laws regarding squatting on federal land,
individual mining camps developed squatting laws to fill the legal void.
Policies relating to abandonment and work requirements were established
on a camp-by-camp basis. As extraction became more capital-intensive,
the share of mining camps that allowed a company to own land increased
significantly.
[edit] New York City

In New York City, homeless people squatting in underground spaces such
as Freedom Tunnel have come to be known as Mole People. They were the
subject of an award-winning documentary called Dark Days.

It is estimated that in the 1990s, there were between 500 and 1,000
squatters occupying 32 buildings on Manhattan's Lower East Side. The
buildings had been abandoned as a result of speculation by owners or
police raids as part of a crackdown on drug use.[67] As the area became
gentrified, the squats were evicted, Dos Blockos being one. Three
buildings on 13th Street were evicted without notification following a
prolonged legal battle in which the squatters argued through their
lawyer Stanley Cohen that they were entitled to ownership of the
buildings through adverse possession since they had lived there since
1983.[68]

In 1995, a preliminary injunction had been granted against the eviction
plans, but this was overturned by state appellate.[69]

Despite squatting being illegal, artists had begun to squat buildings to
live in and use as atelier space[clarification needed]. European
squatters coming to New York brought ideas of cooperative living with
them such as a bar, support between squats, and tool exchange.[31]

In 2002, eleven squats out of the twelve remaining on the Lower East
Side signed a deal with the city council brokered by the Urban
Homesteading Assistance Board. In this project, UHAB bought the
buildings for $1 each and agreed to assist the squatters to undertake
essential renovation work, after which their apartments could be bought
for $250 each. UHAB would also train them in running low-income
limited-equity housing cooperatives.[67] After prices peaked from the
housing boom, several of the squatters told press that they wanted out
of the contract so they could be allowed to sell their units at market
rate prices. No such arrangements have been made, but some squatters are
challenging the contract and believe adverse possession protects their
ownership claim.[70]

The first squat to completed co-op conversion in May 2009 is Bullet
Space, an artists' gallery and residence.[71] Another is C-Squat; as
well as social center ABC No Rio, which was founded in 1980.


--
"If I say two plus two is four and a Democrat says two plus two is eight,
it's not a partial victory for me when we agree that two plus two is
six. " Jonah Goldberg (modified)