What are the rights of “squatters”?

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What are the rights of “squatters”?

My boyfriend and I have lived at a house for 1 1/2 years. When we moved in the landlord we were renting from did not tell us this. About month after we started renting we got served with papers about the house. It has been a year since we were told to move out but we never did. I want to know if we have any rights now since were still there?

Asked on August 21, 2011 Oklahoma

Answers:

FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

Squatters have no rights regarding a lease or real property unless the use by the "squatters" has manifested to a possible adverse possession or prescriptive easement claim. Such a claim usually takes at least five years.

If you were told to move out of the unit you are presently occupying, but have done nothing about it, you have yet to be served with a thirty (30) day eviction notice or a three day notice to pay rent or quit, it seems that the landlord or the current owner of the property is going to do nothing about your occupation of the unit.

I suspect that the property was foreclosed upon and the current owner is some institutional lender who simply does not have much interest in you or the property at this point.


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