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Thread: Man is forced to hand title for $125,000 parcel of Delaware land to neighbor who erec

  1. #1
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    Default Man is forced to hand title for $125,000 parcel of Delaware land to neighbor who erec

    Man is forced to hand title for $125,000 parcel of Delaware land to neighbor who erected GOAT PEN on property, then successfully claimed squatter's rights when he attempted to sell it


    • Burton Banks, an Atlanta-based financial advisor, inherited from his father several plots of land in Ocean View, Delaware
    • Banks wanted to sell part of the property in 2021, but learnt that his neighbor Melissa Schrock had been grazing her goats on the land
    • A judge last month ruled that Schrock had been on the property for more than 20 years and so had squatter's rights: Banks was forced to hand over the land


    By Harriet Alexander For Dailymail.com
    Published: 01:42 EST, 7 March 2023 | Updated: 03:05 EST, 7 March 2023


    A judge in Delaware has ordered a businessman hand over a $125,000 parcel of land to his neighbor after she kept her goats on the land for over 20 years and claimed squatter's rights.
    Burton Banks, an Atlanta-based financial advisor, inherited the uninhabited plot of land in Ocean View, Delaware, from his father Ralph.

    In 2021 Banks and his husband David Barrett decided they wanted to sell the plot of land, which sits empty and undeveloped.

    But he discovered that around two thirds of an acre was being used by his neighbor Melissa Schrock, who had erected a pen for her goats on the land.

    'It's just always been my backyard since I was a little kid,' Schrock said.






    Burton Banks (left) wanted to sell the land, but discovered that his neighbor Melissa Schrock was claiming squatter's rights - thanks to a goat pen she erected on the plot



    The home of Schrock, who grazed her goats on her neighbor's land and won squatter's rights


    Schrock's home in Ocean View, Delaware

    Banks took her to court to try and reclaim the land, but Schrock claimed squatter's rights.

    Explaining her counter-claim, Schrock said: 'It's just always been my backyard since i was a kid.'

    Superior Court Judge Craig Karsnitz ruled in February in Schrock's favor, noting that Banks lived primarily in Atlanta and 'only occasionally' came to the Delaware site.
    Karsnitz felt Schrock met the threshold in proving her 20-year occupation, Delaware Online reported.

    If a resident can prove they've occupied a plot for 20 years, they can claim ownership, which Schrock did successfully.

    Another neighbor's plot also encroached on Banks' property. That unnamed resident agreed to move animal enclosures they'd set up - but because Schrock refused, Banks was ultimately unable to regain control of his family's property.

    Because Banks and his husband live in Atlanta and visit Delaware only occasionally, it made it harder for them to prove that Schrock hadn't been openly using their land for the last 20 years.

    Banks said he was speaking out in order to warn others to take action and make sure their property was not squatted on.
    'I can't afford the appeal,' said Banks. 'But (I'm) hoping I can at least warn others.'



    Banks submitted a map of the property, showing his claim

    Serena Williams, a law professor at Widener University in Delaware, who specializes in housing law, said property owners needed to be vigilant.
    'Inspect it regularly,' Williams said.

    'If you see something you haven't permitted - a tree you haven't planted, objects you haven't placed there − make sure to remove it, because that's the beginning of adverse possession.'

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ated-replace-2
    ”The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” - Margaret Thatcher

  2. #2
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    Sounds like he was TOO BUSY" to spend any time at the property. Maybe his "Husband" can console him. Serves him right.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by sunflowerstation View Post
    Sounds like he was TOO BUSY" to spend any time at the property. Maybe his "Husband" can console him. Serves him right.
    Who would pay this guy for "Financial" advice?

  4. #4
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    Actually, this is what "squatters' rights" is all about. If a piece of land or building is left vacant for a long period of time - and not being maintained, somebody else can come in and use it. If sufficient time elapses without a squawk from the owner, then the owner loses it.

    I'm normally a real property-rights kind of guy, but I agree that after TWENTY FREAKING YEARS this guy suddenly remembers he has this parcel? The neighbor has been using it to good effect, apparently.

    In ancient Rome, the land was all bought-up by a very few rich people, and they had slaves to run the farms and such. There was absolutely zero possibility of lower and middle class people getting their own property. It was a real problem, as in various wars, the leaders would promise their troops land as compensation. But - there wasn't any land to give them for the most part.

    And, yes, the slaves WERE competing against free Roman citizens, and the citizens usually lost. In some cases, citizens would sell themselves into slavery so they could eat!


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