'Squatter' Who Claimed McMansion Gets the Boot

Texan's 'adverse possession' argument rejected
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 7, 2012 8:26 AM CST
Updated Feb 11, 2012 10:55 AM CST
'Squatter' Who Claimed McMansion Gets the Boot
Robinson's $16 home.   (YouTube)

The Texas man who claimed the law of "adverse possession" allowed him to get an abandoned $340,000 home by paying $16 to file a claim is now looking for somewhere else to live. A judge decided that the current lien holder, Bank of America, had the right to force Kenneth Robinson out, ABC News reports. Robinson, who lived in the foreclosed home for eight months, says he has decided to leave the home in an upscale Dallas suburb without a fight.

"I went in doing this strictly by following a lawful process," he tells the Dallas Observer, and now that the process has come to an end, "I'm neither happy nor disappointed," he says. Experts say that while adverse possession laws allowing people to claim abandoned property can be found in most states, it usually takes around a decade to establish a claim, making Robinson just a squatter. He says that without the media attention, he might have been able to stay long enough to become the property owner. (More squatting stories.)

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