Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

10-1-2010

SSRN Discipline

Legal Scholarship Network; Law School Research Papers - Legal Studies; Corporate Governance Network; Law & Society eJournals; Law & Society: Private Law eJournals; LSN Subject Matter eJournals; Humanities Network

Abstract

In the wake of the present real estate crisis there has been prolonged discussion of the wrongdoing that led to systemic failures in the national real estate market The mortgage crisis caught the nation's attention because of its large scale and its rippling effect throughout the economy Equally nefarious is the impact of adverse possession on the rights of individual property owners While a single adverse possession does not affect the national market in the same way as the mortgage crisis did to the individual owner the wrongdoing in the form of a trespass that ripens into title is just as devastating We should reexamine more broadly concepts such as adverse possession that result in loss of ownership and move away from those whose foundation is in wrongdoing The article begins with a brief discussion of foundational concepts inherent in the adverse possession doctrine It then analyzes four examples that demonstrate the impact of adverse possession 1 the purchaser and the bona fide donee 2 the coowners 3 the squatters and 4 the erroneous deed The article concludes by summarizing the policies that justify abrogating the adverse possession doctrine

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