Real estate ?

[GUNDOGLOVER49]

My nephew lives in IN. about 15 years ago he bought 80 acres in French lick, IN. Side note,I think that's where Larry Birds is from. Anyhow he sold it a few years later. Noe comes the problem. He received a property tax statement connected to the parcel, a relative small tax. He contacted someone from the tax board and they told him he still owns four acres, so I assume there was no survey done at the time of sale. Now the real problem , someone is squatting and they built a structure on the property, what kind I don't know. I idd a little search on IN. property law and, I think he may be sucking hind teat. If the squatters have been there for ten years, laws says they have rights to land, if I read it right. the four acres has a value of about 36K. I told him to take some lead down there and do a little frontier negotiations. What's you thought.

 

[ilovesprig]

I’d say, he obviously got what he wanted for the property on the original sale years ago…Instead of legal hassle and who knows what else would happen…I’d just sign it over to them…2 cents

 

[GUNDOGLOVER49]

I’d say, he obviously got what he wanted for the property on the original sale years ago…Instead of legal hassle and who knows what else would happen…I’d just sign it over to them…2 cents

That's what I told my wife. We think a lot a like must be our advanced wise years.

 

[WaterDawg]

A lot of thoughts come to mind.
- are there also years of delinquent taxes owed?
- does the buyer actually only have 11 acres?
- was there a title policy?

Nephew could be exposed to liability if the buyer got less than the 15 acres he thought he bought. It might be worth a few grand to hire a RE attorney and figure out everyone’s rights and jeopardy. If nephew is the rightful owner, delinquent taxes aren’t too high, and squatters can’t prove they’ve been there for a full ten years, your nephew might get a $36,000 windfalll.
I also like Steve’s idea, but wouldn’t want to leave your nephew at risk from suit by the party that bought the 11/15 acres.

 

[DanSanDiego]

When I looked into adverse-possession about 18 years ago the California laws were very clear that you cannot take ownership of a property to which you haven’t been the one paying the property tax. In my case a neighbor had built a retaining wall on my property before I bought it. I didn’t really mind but I wanted to verify that I still owned that part of the property even though my neighbor had put something on it.

So, it’s worth checking if Indiana has similar laws. Meaning that the number of years someone has squatted on his land doesn’t matter. What does matter is if the squatters have been paying the property tax.