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Individuals Using Adverse Possession Laws To Steal Properties and Fund Criminal Enterprises

Opportunity knocks as individuals use adverse possession laws to take supposed ‘control’ of foreclosed home, rent them out and threaten to sue banks or mortgage companies if they foreclose.

Some enterprising individuals are using adverse possession laws to take control of foreclosure properties and either live in homes rent free or ‘lease’ them to renters – pocketing the rental income. How can people do this you say? “It’s amazing but we’ve seen a few of these cases pop up here recently in the Atlanta market,” says Barry Britt, Managing Broker of REO Proformance Systems - a real estate company that specializes in foreclosure properties for sale in Atlanta, Georgia. “They take control of the property by entering the home then changing the locks – usually so they can put renters in there to generate cash.” According to news reports sometimes the renters – who do sign leases – are either unaware of what’s actually happening or accomplices.

Adverse possession is defined as “gaining legal title to real property by the actual, open, hostile, and continuous possession of the property to the exclusion of its true owner for the period

“Last year we discovered Susan Weidman was using the courts to claim squatters’ rights,’ and then would put in fraudulent tenants in well-to-do communities in Cumming, Sandy Springs and Decatur neighborhoods,” says Britt. Her scam included threatening letters from a bogus law firm to anyone who challenged her. “We first discovered Weidman had occupied one of our properties – one that was on the market for more than $400,000,” Sandi Beursken, Associate Broker at REO Proformance Systems. “We put a hidden camera on the property when we realized someone had changed the locks and saw Weidman and her renters entering and leaving the property.”

Unbelievable you say? As recently as December authorities in Douglas County found a man who took control of a $300,000 home by filing an Affidavit of Adverse Possession petition in the courts (see the video here). In this case the man lived in the home RENT FREE for six months. This individual even posted a Facebook page telling others to do the same thing.

“We haven’t noticed this type of activity with any of our other properties,” says Britt. “However, we are focused on making sure this doesn’t happen in the future.”

REO Proformance Systems sells Atlanta foreclosure properties owned by banks and mortgage companies. With hundreds of listings on the market, they have been instrumental in bringing to light this emerging trend to authorities attention in Atlanta. Buyers looking to purchase an Atlanta foreclosure property should seek qualified agents who have expert knowledge of both foreclosure properties and how best to help the buyer through the sometimes cumbersome process,” says Beursken.

For more information on the foreclosure market in Atlanta call REO Proformance Systems at 678-318-7911.