Squatting and adverse possession Countering neighbourhood blight and disinvestment

摘要

In communities across the United States, abandoned properties serve as vestiges of past economic events that continue to contribute to neighbourhood disinvestment. In some communities, residents are actively recruiting squatters to help revitalize their neighbourhoods. Adverse possession emerges as a potential tool that can be used by squatters to help solidify their claims to the properties they occupy and help revitalize communities. To this end, this article provides examples of how reductions in crime, disorder, and fear of crime might be promoted through relaxed adjudications of adverse possession claims and cooperation from communities and local and state criminal justice systems.