1082 - Squatter - Definition, Legal Rights, Example & How to Evict (Glossary) by Chris Bibey

What Is a Squatter?

A squatter is an individual who occupies a piece of real estate, despite having no legal claim to the property. Squatters live on a property in which they have no legal title, rights, or lease agreement. However, this individual may gain legal rights to the property by adverse possession, which is the legal transfer of ownership to a squatter due to continuous land occupation.

Squatting Example

There’s no shortage of squatting examples, but here are the basics of one of the most common scenarios.

You purchased an investment property in 2020 and rented it to a tenant for two years. At the beginning of 2022, you stopped renting the property, which remained empty for several months. Then, you decided to put it on the market.

Unfortunately, when preparing the home for listing, you found a squatter living there for several months.

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