Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on February 13, 2007

Click here to view bill details.

its only 3 years for the state to foreclose if taxes not paid.

this bill would create a total legal mess.most property in michigan does not have legal survey. i know because when i surveyd my lake fron home i own 10 feet of the house next door.also this is true on all my farms.The property lines are almost never right! This bill will have people killing each other in property wars.Only a nut like rep.Stahl from Lapeer would support a bill like this and I know why .It is because him and his neighbor got in a property war.So now he wants to get the whole state in a poperty war.

I'm in my second adverse possession case We need a law that will stop the crooks from stealing land under ADVERSE POSSESSION Without a law , anyone can claim land you have owned for years and paid taxes on,costing you thousands in attorney fees just to protect your land. Hard to believe ,getting rid of a attorneys loophole to take the common man's land

Five years ago I lost some off my land because a man built a hunting blind on my property and I did not notice it, because I lived down state. I finally called police about it. And was taken to court for Adverse possession after 7 thousand dollars, I LOST MY SOME OF MY LAND. LAND THAT WAS PASSED DOWN FOR GENERATIONS FROM FATHER TO SON.

have been law. it's unethical. it's unfair. it's taking land away from it's rightful owner and giving it to someone else. so, of course, that's the way michigan decided to do it.

to the Native Americans

native americans who live tax free? who own tax free casinos? who have the status of an INDEPENDANT NATION? who, by the way, up until 1901, still practiced LEGAL SLAVERY? who, in some cases have permission that we don't have to USE ILLEGAL DRUGS in their rituals? by the way, tell it to the polish, who had their land taken from them SEVERAL TIMES in just this century, most recently by the communist russians. tell that to the jews, who are STILL having their land taken from them by terrorists. tell that to the africans, who are taking each other's land and enslaving each other's people TO THIS VERY DAY. man has used "law" and tradition to take away land from others for centuries. it's time it stopped. i can't do anything about the past, but we can certainly do something about the present and the future.

says the white man took all of America by adverse posession. he has a point.

says that he was 'railroaded by the man'. adverse possession has trespassing and ALLOWING TRESPASSING at it's core. if you ALLOW trespassing, you CONDONE the trespass, and you FORFIET THE LAND. by OUR law, the native americans should have simply driven us off their land. by THEIR law, NO ONE OWNS THE LAND. SO IT WASN'T THEIRS TO BEGIN WITH.

I agree. This is pathetic. I live in a subdivision...Get it "DIVISION" mean it has been divided, yet my neighbors came in put a shed, a fence, and a driveway on my property..not on the line but by 5feet and now I have to spend money on a lawyer to defend what is mine, that I insure and pay taxes on. When I got my mortgage it was for the entire property and I make my payment every month, it is for the whole property..not just parts of it. If somebody wants property they should have to buy it. What if I want a new car I should just take it and say.."well I am the one driving it now, so it should be mine" ? !

The indians lost a war...get over it!

In addition to paying the property taxes, if the land is surveyed and staked (and I have line markers) then I, the owner, should be protected from any theft of my land. One should not have to fight with the neighbor over something that does not belong to the neighbor. My neighbor has planted shrubs on my side of the line. In my opinion, the shrubs should become mine. I fully expect to have a problem in about 6 years, so I would like to see HB4249 passed this year. I'm sure the neighbor would not like it if I took a portion of their property, which I could do, and tacking would apply. Please pass ASAP. It only makes sense.

My friends, I understand people get upset when losing property that they pay for however, the home next door to mine has been abandoned and we have been mowing, burning trash and bording up windows for over 15 years and not one responsible owner of this property has showed up year after year. Children have been smoking and sleeping in this house and something has to be done. I believe it is only fair that I retain this property because I am the only one who cares.

So all I have to do is build a hunting blind?

I purchased my property when I was 22 yrs old. Our new neighbor was glad to put a fence between our properties to keep his cows in. We were fully aware that it was not on the property line, that it was 3 or more feet on our side but being young and stupid we didn't think anything of it, new neighbor, being the newbies. This person has already taken property from 2 other people over that past 5 years by claiming it to be his because it was fenced and he was using the property. Now it is happening to us. This bill needs to pass. This can end up costing me approx 3 acres of land that I have purchased and paid taxes on for 25 years.

What seems to be the problem. Why can't this bill get passed? I am not interested in feeding greedy lawyers or greedy land thieves. Let's get this bill passed TODAY! I would also like to know if the people taking the land would like to have this done to them. If something as simple as paying the property taxes doesn't protect a landowner, then why are we having to pay them? Michigan property taxes are extremely high anyway. What about survey markers and line markers? Why bother even having them if this doesn't protect a landowner. Surveys are very expensive also. This whole adverse possession thing doesn't even make sense. It is ridiculous. Let's get it passed NOW, and protect the tax paying landowners, not the greedy!!!

My friend is in danger of losing a 40 foot line in Milford because of some prick ass "neighbor" that knows the law and wants to take my friends land. What a bullshit law from bullshit politicians.

There is nothing that was legitimate in ever having an ADVERSE POSESSION law in the first place. If someone legitimately wanted your land they could - and should be made to- go through normal efforts to contact the land owner. If they MISTAKENLY encroched on their neighbors land, they should rectify it and be forgiven. NOW, if someone goes onto your land - oh, let's say to the center and puts up their blind or whatever,-this should be considered deliberate hostile calculated trespassing. Instead the current law holds the real owner to lose his land and rewards this calculated ploy. This law is probably the biggest farse that was ever passed. FIX IT!!

Thank you Rep. Sheltrown for having the courage and accountability to come forward with this bill. In looking into this Adverse Possession law I have found that it is a "business" which is advertised as " Free Real Estate and Big Profits" which has a step by step guide. The cases that I have read about all seem to show that they were premeditated and deliberate. The Adverse posssession Law only encourages people to steal the land of others. By the way people, you can't claim this on U.S. Government land or Canadian Crown land. Surprise Surprise. Please Rep. Sheltrown, bring this bill about now for all of us who are paying our taxes.

This bill wouldn't make wars, it would clear things up sir(with all the farms which makes me wonder). You wouldn't be out anything that wasn't yours in the first place. The only people who would fight this legitimate bill are people who want to do illegitimate things such as this. This isn't a matter of survey errors as you would suggest, but rather a matter of deliberate encroachment and building things on property that you KNOW isn't yours. Then of course the 15 yr. or so countdown to cash in. I work for someone who used to be a surveyor and did just this. I notified the other party before the creep I work for cashed in. What was ever GOOD, for hard working taxpayers, about the Adverse Possession Law??????

I think it is total crap that I can pay taxes on property,and some one can steal it by squatting on it,if they do it for 15 years or longer.However States and cities can kick out squatters no matter how long they have been on their land.If I'm paying the taxes on the land why don't I have the same rights?

the entire united states is based on Adverse possession (homesteading,land squatting)what ever you want to call it.there are many lands and house in Michigan that have been abandon for many many years.If you lost your land over a hunting blind you should have gotten a better lawyer becuase a hunting blind doesnt meet the burdon for Adverse possession the person has to have active control of the land and using it for 15 years .the act of hunting the land doesnt meet that unless there living in the blind.also if in 15 years you dont notice someone using your land um why are you complaining you didnt care the last 15 years.Next make sure you check your property line i bet most of you be surpised to find out you are using part of someone else property.

Your neighbor may know the land but your friend should have known her own property lines and taken action. Chances are she had 15 years to do it. What took her so long.

You seem to forget that anyone born in this country that is not a Native Amercian has benifited in some way or another including you from "Adverse Possession".  This country is founded on it. The only difference is that now we say you have to wait 5 to 15 years where as before the founding fathers would just kill whom ever was already there.  You might even say well you know what that happened before I was thought of but it doesn't change the fact that you have benifited from it.  The fact that Native Americans live tax free completely is only a small price we all pay for living on their land and claiming to own it because we pay tax on it to a goverment that only exist because of "Adverse Possession". If the first settlers here had come to be visiters and not killers, liers, and theives they would more then likely still be in conroll of this land and it would not be misuesed.  Remember by what means you have come to live here and show some resepect.  I know this post comes 3 years after your orignial comment but I hope that you will by some means read it and really think about it.  This was not to jump on you but only to be truthfull.