Query in taking possession of a property.

JustJack

Registered User
Messages
2
I have a rather unusual situation that I was wondering if anyone could shed light on.

8 years ago a friend of mine moved into a house in Waterford. The house was a house share where he was given the landlords bank account details and paid his share of the rent every month directly into it. He never actually met the landlord. At the time he moved in there were 3 people living in the house and he was replacing someone that had moved out.

Anyway, this continued for about 2 years and eventually through people coming and going he was the longest serving tenant. At that stage there was an issue with the house that required maintenance and the tenants tried to contact the landlord but were not able to do. The original leaseholder had moved out by then so the tenants contacted the bank where they were paying the rent to try and locate the landlord. The bank would not provide the contact details but said they would try and contact him on their behalf. This was also not successful. In an attempt to alert the landlord they decided to stop paying rent into the account in the hope that the landlord would surface but he didn't.

To this day the landlord has not made an appearance. My friend is now living in the house alone as everyone else has gone (and has been for some years). Any maintenance that has been required has been done by him at his expense but no rent is getting paid to anyone. The actual rent is accruing in an another account should the landlord appear.

My friend has this idea that after an amount of time the house can be be transferred into his name. Is this possible or is he just dreaming?
 
My friend has this idea that after an amount of time the house can be be transferred into his name. Is this possible or is he just dreaming?

It is correct to state that there is such a thing as adverse possession. He is not there yet, and I do believe the fact that he paid rent at some stage might exclude that period. Ideally he needs to talk to a solicitor to see what he needs to do to fulfill the requirements for ownership.

Alternatively he could just stay there forever and see what happens. It would be very hard indeed to get him out if a lot of time has passed.

Maybe the owner has emigrated or is in a home etc.
 
Adverse possession like this is legal---but is it moral? Is it morally any different to a slow, sneaky form of grand theft?

Should people be assisted by others in making such claims? While such assistance is legal, is it moral?

The UK has all but abolished it, making it much harder for an adverse possession claim to be successful. I hope Ireland follows suit.
 
Back
Top