A little-known aspect of property rights is the concept of adverse possession, sometimes called squatters rights. Founded in common law, the concept holds that a non-owner of property may acquire ownership of that property after use or possession for a specified amount of time.
NPR reports of a recent case involving adverse possession. For many years, a woman in Delaware had been using a plot of land for a goat pen. She thought the land was hers, as her parents had used the same parcel before her. The rightful owner of the land had inherited it in 2005 but didn’t know that the goat pen was on his land until he attempted to sell the land. After a protracted legal process, ownership was awarded to the woman.
Laws regarding adverse possession vary considerably across the nation. The time for use or possession ranges from three years to forty years. In Delaware, the specified time is twenty years. The court found that the woman had been using the land for the required period of time.
The man who lost his land claims that his property rights were violated. This particular case is more complex than most situations in which adverse possession is applied, but his property rights were not violated. To understand this, we need to step back for a moment and look at what property is and how ownership is established.
Property is a material value that is owned. Ownership is established either through purchase or by transforming a resource into a value. This latter method forms the basis for adverse possession. In the world today, virtually all land is owned by individuals, businesses, or government. So, let us look beyond Earth to a place where land is unowned—the Moon— to understand how ownership is established.
Morally, ownership of land on the Moon can be established by transforming that land into a human value. This might be done by constructing buildings, establishing mining operations, or some other transformative action. Such actions would establish ownership of the land being used. Others would be free to use other areas on the Moon and establish ownership.
Let us say that, after a period of time, the land is abandoned. The buildings are no longer used and occupied, or the mining operations cease. After the period prescribed by adverse possession law, others would be free to use and possess the land in question and establish ownership.
I don’t have a strong opinion on how much time is appropriate for one to claim adverse possession. However, even if the period is short—such as one year—a landowner should be able to retain ownership by making some form of public declaration as to his intentions. As an example, the owner of the mine mentioned above could simply make it known that he intends to resume operations at a specified time in the future. Barring such a pronouncement, the land in question would eventually become unowned.
In the Delaware case, the original owner was unaware that the goat pen was on his property. If he had known this, made that clear to the goat owner, but allowed the pen to remain, the case might been decided differently.
Adverse possession might seem like it is legalized theft. However, when properly defined and applied, it is a valid concept.