Squatters and avoiding adverse possession

[cmac2012]

Oh man, my life has become suddenly interesting in unforeseen manner. My mother, may God bless and keep her, recently married her third husband.

Here's the twist: she married into money. She's known this guy since she used to work at his late wife's bookstore, that more than 35 years ago. She and my father were good friends with her late employer (gone about 8 years) and new husband. Her second husband (jerk) never knew my dad. That the third hubby and my dad were good friends is huge for me.

To the chase: this fellow worked for years for Weyerhaeuser in Oregon and along the way bought 360 acres with a view and much timber. He's been harvesting timber and raising cattle for years. It's hard to believe, but he's 94 and works regularly. I was skeptical but upon meeting him was amazed. Walks well, no limp, quick witted, tells great stories. My mother is mid 80s.

He hasn't lived on his ranch for about 8 years. During that time a grand-nephew has been living there, in the ranch house, a bit run down now, and more or less helping manage things. My new step dad (SD) harvests timber off the land regularly not to mention cattle. So it's not like he's absent. The wedding was in OlyWA, they had a reception in OR (in the vicinity of Eugene) about 6 weeks later. It's a bit of a scene there as many relatives are hoping to be in my SD's will. Trust me, I'm not imagining this.

His grand nephew has allowed a number of squatters to move onto the land and they pay him (the nephew) some quasi rent, not much I gather, and most of them harvest junk wood to sell as firewood. My SD is not keen on the squatters but is at a loss on how to get them off. He and some of the other relatives are concerned about the adverse possession thing, for those not familiar, a process whereby squatters can gain legal title to land after 10 years.

My SD's longtime lawyer is deceased, I imagine that's something you find when you're 94 and still going sort of strong. I'm gently twisting arms for them to get some legal advice in OR.

I hope this isn't TMI but it is an unusual situation. I genuinely like this guy and like the fact that he is making my mother's life better. I'd like to help him with this, I'm almost tempted to move to Eugene. My mom tells me that he likes me and asks about me. I have a bit of trepidation however about appearing to be some Johnny come lately city boy trying to evict a number of squatters way up in the Oregon woods. It could very easily become 'boy, you think you gonna get this land for your mama?'

OTOH, I'm not keen on a group of semi-deadbeats (word is there's some serious drug use on the ranch) making life stressful for my SD. He's worried his family trust could be in trouble. He has a granddaughter and greatgrandson and that's it, in terms of direct descendants. The other relatives in question are descendants of his 3 siblings.

Long story short (too late for that), any knowledge anyone has would be appreciated. I've been searching the web, one thing in his favor, I think, is that it is not 'hostile possession.' I've read here and there that if you are allowing them to stay on your land, they lose one of the main components for adverse possession, that being that they owner must know you're there and not want you there. This site talks about sending them a letter, registered mail I imagine, giving them permission to stay.

I'm puzzled as hell that these laws are on the books. All I can figure is that it's a way to put fallow, near abandoned land back into use. Odd nonetheless.

[JB3]

He needs to consult and retain a new lawyer. If hes one of those people who is afraid of lawyers at 94, dont waste your time worrying about it IMO.

[Txjake]

Take the nephew fishing (like in the Godfather ) and then "go hunting" on the land.. Who knows, you might run into some people who make you fear for your life.

Seriously, sounds like the nephew is the root cause. Might even be some weed cultivating going on. Be careful, people like this are parasitic scum and are dangerous. I do advise if you go there, even just to snoop around, be armed.

[engatwork]

Sounds like the nephew is a POS to me.

[strelnik]

Originally Posted by Txjake

Take the nephew fishing (like in the Godfather ) and then "go hunting" on the land.. Who knows, you might run into some people who make you fear for your life.

Seriously, sounds like the nephew is the root cause. Might even be some weed cultivating going on. Be careful, people like this are parasitic scum and are dangerous. I do advise if you go there, even just to snoop around, be armed.

+2. Retain a new lawyer with experience (don't go cheap) and take a couple of shot guns with you.

And, if you have a permit, a couple of handguns.

You got guns and a lawyer, what more do you need?
Any corporate lawyers connected witrh the businesses available? They know how to get rid of squatters. Plus the nephew has no claim and no written contract.

It's the old man's stuff, he can do what he wants with it.
Good luck, keep us in the know.

[cmac2012]

Excellent advice. I don't think my SD is afraid of lawyers, he's just perhaps become complacent. Though he is fit for 94, he has of course slowed down somewhat. I've only known a few people who were as fit and alert at his age.

And oh man, the possibility of danger at the hands of some of those characters on the land is not far fetched. There were a couple of grand-nephews at the reception whose vibe I did not like. No overt nastiness or rancor but something going on. I learned later that were among the squatters, some of whom are extended family, some not.

One grand niece, a bit younger than me, mid 50s pointed out that getting too heavy handed with the wrong people can have other downsides. Drought is severe up there, you can see big cracks in the earth from drying. Not little lakebed mud cracks but maybe an inch or two wide and a foot deep.

If one guy were way unhinged, a few molotov cocktails and it could be conflagration. And my SD liable for other property owner's losses if the fire started on his land.

Would not surprise me at all if some pot is being grown. I did the math, 360 acres, if a square parcel, would be 3/4 mile on edge. Plenty of room to hide a good sized pot operation in a spread that size.

Word is that a guy who owns a bunch of Taco Bell franchises wants to buy the land. I've not seen it but I'm told it has an awesome view. My sister thinks he should just sell and let the new owners deal with it. Not sure that's legal, w/o full disclosure anyway, but it might work. But it's not our decision. He derives serious income from that land and is probably loathe to sell it.

[t walgamuth]

First ask if he wants your help.

[Medmech]

The key to adverse possession in most states is notice and open continuous hostile use of the property. Yes the letter of eviction is typically enough to cure. Get a lawyer that is local and familiar with the local laws.

[Txjake]

Or, you could surreptitiously hire some Chinese mercenaries to snuff everyone out there. Might be the cheapest and least troublesome effort.

[kerry]

If they are paying rent, they are not squatters and don't qualify for adverse possession. (I think) They are tenants. Just go thru the standard eviction process.

[cmac2012]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

First ask if he wants your help.

That is a point and something I've given a lot of thought to. He hasn't asked for help directly but he's spoken to my mother a lot about it and she's asked me. It's not like she's a full partner in his estate, there was some sort of pre-nup and I, not surprising, know none of the details.

This whole thing has really twisted my head around. I don't have a lot of respect for the gold-digging thing and don't want to fall into that lure. OTOH, it's not like my mother is Anna Nicole Smith here. He pursued her for over a year and like I said, they've known each other for 35+ years. I will admit that the thought of our family's estate suddenly swelling has occurred to me.

It is an oddly complicated thing. He bought the spread with his older brother (about 15 years older) around 1950. I'd need a flow chart to know who is descended from the older brother and who from his sister (I mispoke earlier, 2 siblings). If I were one of that crowd, I might think that some of the estate was due me.

However, my mom is now his wife and I'm the only son and oldest child. I'm more and more thinking I should get up there just to watch after her. She has stuck by me through all sorts of crap. I don't want to see her abused by this crowd.

Could be I'm overly worried. My SD has a lot of friends in that town (not Eugene, a small town nearby). At the reception were several good ol' boys, actual cow pokes who got their start in the cattle biz from him. Also the owner of the local Husqvarna dealership. None of these guys are shrinking violets.

I got off on a good start with them as I sang at the wedding in Oly and my mom asked me to sing a few of the same songs at the reception. As it was winding down, one of the younger nephews had asked if he could plunk on my guitar, which of course I said yes. As he was putting it down, my SD said 'play us a song.' He demurred, just didn't have the chops yet. I said, I got one, and played a Hank song which, God bless us all, Hank especially, went over pretty well. I do Hank. Did a few more. Was a great day for all of us IMO.

I'm certain my SD wants no violence involved in this. If he did, he'd have moved on it by now. Maybe he's being too soft on them, not sure. He apparently has a lot of money and is generous with it.

[cmac2012]

Originally Posted by kerry

If they are paying rent, they are not squatters and don't qualify for adverse possession. (I think) They are tenants. Just go thru the standard eviction process.

I don't think they're paying rent to my SD, the actual owner. The nephew is collecting it. I've not met the guy. I'm approximately 100% certain he has way more experience in cattle and timber than I do.

Part of what concerns me on this, he has no adult male descendants to stick up for his end of things. This is his third marriage, the second was to my mother's friend/employer. She had one son from a previous marriage who was born simple owing to her having mumps (I think) while she was pregnant. Just before my SD married her (he was 60) that son got involved with a simple young woman. They had a child and it soon became clear were not capable of caring for it. My SD and wife took the girl in and raised her as a daughter. That young woman (an intelligent and solid woman now, thank God) has a young son from a previous husband. Those two are the closest to family he has. And he has treated them like blood family all the way. He's a good man.

Like I said, this is a complicated story.

[t walgamuth]

Ask.

[greazzer]

If they have been paying rent or doing something on an exchange basis, I doubt there's an adverse possession issue. Plus, there's an acronym CANOE --- Continuous, Adverse, Notorious, Open, and Exclusive ... and that has to go on for years for each person. Has one of these gypsies really been there that long? How could they prove it? You could suggest to the new family member that he is losing a bundle by having these folks hanging out and he should be charging real rent and really collecting it. If they balk, call the cops ...

[cmac2012]

Originally Posted by Medmech

The key to adverse possession in most states is notice and open continuous hostile use of the property. Yes the letter of eviction is typically enough to cure. Get a lawyer that is local and familiar with the local laws.

I guess it's not all that complicated. I've got drama running in my head. This fellow, my mom's husband, has been pretty savvy in his life, and while he seems cogent enough I imagine some things start to slow down when you reach that age. That might explain why he hasn't updated his lawyer situation.

I think the longest any of the group has been there is 8 years. I'll be there for Thanksgiving. I'll ask him if he needs any help with anything on his ranch and abide by his wishes.