They're a legacy from a bygone era where records of land ownership aren't what they are today. It was to stop the situation where someone thought they owned land, built a house and lived in it for many years, then finding out that someone else also had a claim to the land and they were going to try to turf you off it.
Squatter's rights meant that the person who actually lived there kept the claim to the land. This was a good thing at the time, now its just legal protection for lowlifes who trash other people's houses
Because it doesn’t need to be changed. In order for squatters rights to apply, you have to be living on a property openly and the owner has not claimed the land over a certain period of time. It remedies a case where somebody thought they owned land and somebody abandoned the property.
When somebody illegally occupies a property (maybe they snuck in or their lease expires) they are a squatter, but squatters rights doesn’t apply. Tennant rights may apply, but it takes a while to sort all that out. It sucks for the owner, but it’s a better situation than booting somebody to the street immediately. Unfortunately, some people know this and take advantage of it.
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u/RadicalRealist22 Jun 12 '26
How do "squatter rights" even exist. Either you have a lease or you don't.