Possession taken - Deceased Owner - Appartment building

[Rob L]

Jurisdiction

California

What happens if the owner of an apartment building is found to have been deceased for years, and throughout that time someone has taken possession of the property, has been managing the building, renting to old and new tenants, and treated the place as if it was his own -- for several years?

Does that person really have any rights over the property?

 

[army judge]

What happens if the owner of an apartment building is found to have been deceased for years, and throughout that time someone has taken possession of the property, has been managing the building, renting to old and new tenants, and treated the place as if it was his own -- for several years?

Does that person really have any rights over the property?

What you are describing is ADVERSE POSSESSION.
In CA, a person can become the LEGAL owner if he has successfully held himself out to be the owner, ADVERSE to the interests of the REAL owner for only FIVE years.



In order to assert a claim of adverse possession in California, the claimant (party seeking to gain title to the property) must demonstrate:

possession under a claim of right or color of title;

actual, open, notorious occupation (protected by a substantial enclosure such as a fence and usually cultivated or improved);

adverse and hostile possession;

continuous possession for a period of five years; and

payment of all taxes assessed against the property during the five-year period.

See, Mehdizadeh v. Mincer, 46 Cal.App.4th 1296, 1305 (1996) and Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §325.

Courts are reluctant to award such claims to legal title, but if the person meets the very high standards of proof, the property can legally become his through ADVERSE POSSESSION.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

There is also a question of operating a business versus living on property. It's complicated and probably unlikely that adverse possession would apply. I'm sure it also would have come up at some point, be an issue with a bank or a court of law. I have to question whether you have all the information concerning the ownership and operation of the business.