Canny fellow gets foreclosed $300K house for $16 adverse possession filing

A canny gentleman has taken adverse possession of a $300K McMansion in Flower Mound, TX. The house had been in foreclosure and the mortgage company that held its paper had gone under, so Kenneth Robinson spent $16 filing adverse possession paperwork with the county courthouse. He's living there without power or water, but if he stays for three years, the house is his. Predictably, his neighbors are upset because he figured out how to legally acquire a house without going into hock for the rest of his life.

But, Robinson said just by setting up camp in the living room, Texas law gives him exclusive negotiating rights with the original owner. If the owner wants him out, he would have to pay off his massive mortgage debt and the bank would have to file a complicated lawsuit…

Robinson posted "no trespassing" signs after neighbors asked police to arrest him for breaking in…

Lowrie and her neighbors continue to look for legal ways to get him out. They are talking to the mortgage company, real estate agents and attorneys. They're convinced he broke into the house to take possession, but Robinson told News 8 he found a key and he gained access legally.

"If he wants the house, buy the house like everyone else had to," Lowrie said. "Get the money, buy the house."

Stranger moves into foreclosed home, citing little-knownTexas law

(via Consumerist)