How to Take Over Payments on a Home Someone Walked Away From

Abandoned homes can be taken by adverse possession, but that doesn't mean they're worth it.

Under the law, adverse possession occurs when you take over a property and its payments, with no guarantee that you will win out in the end. Taking over the bill payments on such a property occurs quite easily as lenders and tax agencies are more than willing to take payments owed from any party willing. However, while property law allows a transfer of ownership after a number of years of exerting visible possession, there’s no guarantee the original owner won’t show up beforehand and tell you to get out. In such cases, you could be in for a loss of every cent you paid on related bills without gaining full property title. Thus, adverse possession is a high-risk gambit.

Instructions

1. Confirm if the target house and property are truly abandoned by trying to contact every party you’re aware of that has an ownership interest in the lot. Visit your local county recorder’s office to get a copy of the specific property deed on file to identify such parties on record.

2. Confirm again with the parties on record on the deed whether they still want ownership of the house. Call these parties directly and try to document communications with them if you can. Try to get in writing that they have indeed abandoned the property.

3. Enter the abandoned property and take possession of it. Make it visibly clear that you are physically inhabiting the property. Contact the county and submit an amendment to the deed that you are now the bill-payer and property tax payer on record. Pay these bills as necessary to maintain the property.

4. Continue the adverse possession of the property as described in Step 3 until you meet the minimum number of years of possession your state requires for adverse possession. Consult with a property lawyer to be sure of the time required.

5. Submit a petition to your local court to take over legal control of the property. Hire a lawyer to submit the required paperwork and represent you if you’re not sure how to produce the necessary legal paperwork. Prove to the court with your bill payments, tax payments, and documented presence in the house that you meet the minimum timeline of adverse possession.

6. Use the property as your own completely once the court has approved the change in ownership based on adverse possession.

Tips & Warnings

• There is no benefit in just taking on payments of an abandoned house, but not taking physical possession of it. To assert adverse possession, you must also visibly take control of the property so there’s no doubt that you are inhabiting the abandoned property.

• You could also be arrested for trespassing by entering and inhabiting someone else’s property without permission. While this is unlikely with an abandoned property, the risk is still certainly possible.

References

• MSN Real Estate; To Squat or Not – Can You Take Over the Abandoned Home Next Door?; Steve McLinden
• ABC News; How to Get a McMansion for $16; Anne-Marie Dorning; July 2011
• The New York Times; At Legal Fringe Empty Houses Go to the Needy; Catherine Skipp et al.; November 2010
• Tampa Bay.com; Man Accused of Turning Foreclosed Homes Into Rentals; Erin Sullivan; February 2010

Resources

• BNET; Internal Auditor; A Field Guide to Unclaimed Property; Paula Smith; February 1996