My Father Was A Squatter
In New York State, and across the country - especially in the northeast - squatters have been occupying ''abandoned'' property.
This is, under certain circumstances, legal. The technical term is adverse possession. Adverse possession is the legal term for taking possession of abandoned property, neglected property or property with no clear title.
I have a history with benefiting from adverse possession or ''squatting''. In 1945, just after World War II, my grandfather, my father's father, purchased at a government auction a Coast Guard station in Hampton Bays, NY. When my grandfather died, he made no real will beyond leaving his estate to his three children.
My father, Charlie Bates, was an entrepreneur. He owned bars, restaurants and followed in his father's footsteps. His brother and sister - each lacked his drive or killer instinct. Little was done or even considered about the Coast Guard station on Dune Road in Hampton Bays. In the years after World War II ''the Hamptons'' was not what it is today.
The Hamptons - on the South Shore of Long Island - was not the glitzy destination it is today. With the exception of Southampton, most of this expensive real estate was the summer retreat of quiet money. Old money. Small unincorporated towns dotted the sandbar that is prime beach front. Dune Road is a crescent of beach that faces the Atlantic. On this expensive property in then-shabby Hampton Bays was my father's inheritance. But, his inheritance of the old Coast Guard station was not his alone. The real estate had no clear title.
Today, squatters are taking advantage of this loophole. Real estate abandoned or with no real title. What my father did was occupy the old Coast Guard station. He effectively took possession of what was essentially his inheritance, but with no clear title. This is where things get complicated.
Adverse possession demands that somebody - anybody - file some legal objection. A claim of title. If no claim is raised, then the property can be claimed by the individual who possesses it. We all know the old legal adage: ''Possession is nine tenths of the law''. This is true where adverse possession claims are concerned. All it takes is an individual occupying abandoned property and using it as their own. Turn on the utilities, put the utility bill in your name. Get a telephone, put the phone in your name. Mail yourself a letter to the address which you occupied. Create a paper trail of possession. And, when the time comes, a reasonable few years, make a claim if title. It just takes the simple act of showing a judge a trail of mail and bills tying you to the property - that's it. A million dollar home can be yours for the cost of a telephone and electricity bill.
This is how my father established ''squatters rights'' over ''his'' inheritance. Of course, by doing this he stole the property from his sister and brother. They never received any compensation or share of their inheritance.
Today, modern squatters don't even need a connection to the abandoned property. And, this is why there is an uproar. In many instances the people damaged are elderly, or very young, who don't even know they own real estate. Individuals who have no clue they are property owners - until squatters do something like set up a brothel or meth-lab in the house or on the property. Homeowners only learn they own a house or apartment when police investigate and put an arrest warrant on the actual property owners.
Or, they turn up one day after years and discover a family living in their relatives old house. America is turning into a Gypsy camp. A strip of land occupied by covered wagons. This is what it took in old Europe to establish strong property rights. Today, in Italy, for example, local municipalities sell off abandoned homes and property for pennies.
So, while my father was a squatter, he used the laws of adverse possession to finally settle a tumultuous family inheritance, today's squatter issue speaks more to the grotesque evolution of culture facing modern America and what private property means in a society moving away from capitalism toward socialism.
Our modern squatter is more Ché Guevara than Charlie Bates. Communist socialism embraces the idea of abolishing private property, and this is what we are seeing today.
Of course, these changes don't ever seem to matter until its your own property occupied. This is the short sighted nature of our modern politics.