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Iive in pa I took over the Property for two years now the two ladies that owned the property are dead they don't have any kids and they also don't leave a will I made many approvement on the place but I wanted to know can a relative come and try to make claim on the place
Certainly a relative (the personal representatives of the decedents, actually) can. You have no claim to ownership.
Do they have to Reimburse me for the renovations I have meQuote:
Originally Posted by AK lawyer
MadeQuote:
Originally Posted by B_dafab1
Are you a mere trespasser, or did you have some sort of arrangement with the ladies who owned the place?
Well we have squatter rites here in pa so I wouldn't call it that the houses was Abandoned with no doors so I fixed up and made a home out of it now a guy who names not in the deed says he's the Nephew want it back but he let it sit for 10 years and people trash ad took everything out if the place but now that he see that I made the place live able he's trying to get it from me and I want to know how if his name not on the deed and he never lived there his self do he pay me back for all I have doneQuote:
Originally Posted by AK lawyer
You might want to read up on "squatters rights" in PA... you need to publicly occupy the property for 21 years as one of the qualifications... you're not even close.
As far as does he have to pay you for the improvements? I can't see any court making him do that... you moved in illegally and took it upon yourself to make these renovations... nobody asked you to.
There are no such thing as squatters rights any more. The law is called adverse possession and has strict rules. As odinn said, you have to occupy the place for 21 years as one of the rules.
Who has paid the taxes on it? If this person is, in fact, the nephew, then yes, he can reclaim the property as an heir and you, as a trespasser, are not entitled to any reimbursement. I suggest you offer to buy the property from him.
Dying without a will ('intestate') means that property goes to next of kin in a certain order as determined by the laws of the state (PA) and if no kin are found, it goes to the state. Probate court can take a lot longer to settle when there is no will, so it sounds about right that a relative might show up after 2 years to claim a house. Sometimes a house is tied up even longer by the fact that the owner was a spouse of the owner on the deed and never went through probate when that owner died.
You could go to the Probate Court to find out, but it doesn't really matter much - you have no rights, even having done improvements. And I suspect that someone was paying the taxes, possibly the estate of the deceased. If not, the town gets the taxes whether it's by taking the property or from those who inherit.
And you aren't even a tenant who has to be evicted formally, so can be considered a trespasser, and can be removed by the police. Sorry!
And no, you have no right to reimbursement for fixing it up.
If you are lucky, the true owner(s) will say "thank you for your work", instead of having you jailed.
But I have been paying the taxs on the house the last 3 years and on a payment plan for the other years it was in Negative he hasn't done anything it been all me up intel todayQuote:
Originally Posted by AK lawyer
Uh-oh. By what arrangement, with whom, were you paying taxes?
If no one, the town could care less who pays them, you did nothing that will stand up in court. There isn't even anything you can go to court for! You can't sue, you can't appear at Probate, you have no relationship or contract with anyone who now owns the property, legally.
Don't shoot the messenger. This is just how the laws are.
You can TRY suing of course - anyone can sue anyone. But really, the only hope you have is to appeal to the good will of the nephew, and at least try to get some money. But he doesn't have to pay you a dime!
Well aren't you the nice guy. Giving a stranger such a gift. Because that's what it was.Quote:
Originally Posted by B_dafab1
What did you tell the county to make this arrangement on back taxes. That may be the only thing you have going for you. If the county accepted your payments instead of seizing the property for a tax sale, you might have grounds to claim the property. But in that case, the county would have issued a deed or promise of a deed to you.
If you just took it on yourself to pay the taxes and fix up the house under the assumption that you could lay claim to the property, then you should have looked up the law first.
If the nephew knew what you were doing, he may have researched the law. He may have known that you could not lay legal claim to the property. So he could have figured he'd just bide his time and when the house was in a condition where he could get some decent money by selling, he decided to make his move.
As joy said, we are just telling you what the law says. Check with a local real estate lawyer to confirm it.
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