Abandoned House

368100

Hi,

Hoping somebody here might give me an idea how to proceed.

I'm on the hunt for a house in a rural area. A house that used to belong to friends of my Dad (they're now passed away) is sitting abandoned, you can't even get up the driveway due to overgrowth. All my Dad knows is that it was a couple from Dublin bought it but unsure if they ever lived in it.

I bought the folio from the Land Registry which shows the house transferring ownership in 2003 from my Dads friend to this couple. There is no bank charges registered at all which would indicate that it was bought without a mortgage.

There is a Ranelagh Address for the couple, and when I look this up on Google Street View this looks to be abandoned too. I tried to get the folio for this to see if there would be any more info but it's in the Registry of Deeds so not available online.

I plan to drive past the house in Ranelagh to see if its still abandoned (in case Google Street View is out of date) but if it is, I've no idea where to go with this, if anywhere?

Its a lovely house and a shame to know it's sitting abandoned. I'd happily pay a fair price for it.

Any ideas?

Samuel T. Cogley

Move in and hope you don't get rumbled for 12 years.

LirW

Adverse Possession. Basically what Samuel said, move in, hope you don't get into trouble with the original owner for 12 years, then apply for adverse possession, congrats you have a house. If your research has shown that the properties are idle for such a long time, how likely would it be that they ever show up, especially in a rural area?
Maybe when doing that save a good amount of cash away if the owner ever shows up and offer to buy it off them.

Tigger

How long ago did you move in ?

368100

Tigger wrote: »

How long ago did you move in ?

I havent moved in....i'm trying to buy it

368100

LirW wrote: »

Adverse Possession. Basically what Samuel said, move in, hope you don't get into trouble with the original owner for 12 years, then apply for adverse possession, congrats you have a house. If your research has shown that the properties are idle for such a long time, how likely would it be that they ever show up, especially in a rural area?
Maybe when doing that save a good amount of cash away if the owner ever shows up and offer to buy it off them.

While it would be a dream to get a house like that without a mortage, this is going to be a home for me, not an investment. Unfortunately I dont think i could live in it for 12 years constantly uneasy whether somebody is going to come knocking some day

Glass fused light

Ask the locals in the pub and the post person what they know.
Google the name and Dublin address and probate / will
Ditto on rip

LirW

368100 wrote: »

While it would be a dream to get a house like that without a mortage, this is going to be a home for me, not an investment. Unfortunately I dont think i could live in it for 12 years constantly uneasy whether somebody is going to come knocking some day

I appreciate that and the adverse possession law is in place for cases like you're in. All you can do is your research, if you genuinely can't track down the owners and the banks aren't helpful, moving in is your best bet. When someone shows up they can't just boot you out straight away.
I understand that this is a predicament and it's frustrating to see a house rotting away.

Get legal advise on how to approach the situation.

Mrs OBumble

368100 wrote: »

. Unfortunately I dont think i could live in it for 12 years constantly uneasy whether somebody is going to come knocking some day

So forget about it and look to buy a house that's on the market in the regular way.




Adverse posession IS the legal framework used to deal with situations like this. There are no magic fairies who can suddenly make the former owners pop out of the woodwork.

But I would in put time into local information seeking - see the publican, postman, priest etc. Remember that they may not tell the truth to a blow-in. Maybe your dad's friends have some contacts who could introduce you?

dixiefly

Is adverse possession not a mad idea in this case?

The OP would have to spend a significant amount of money to get it livable with the potential that they could be turfed out at any time.

Also, in this age of social media the opportunity to communicate stuff like this is much greater than years ago when this law was enacted.

Subcomandante Marcos

dixiefly wrote: »

Is adverse possession not a mad idea in this case?

The OP would have to spend a significant amount of money to get it livable with the potential that they could be turfed out at any time.

Also, in this age of social media the opportunity to communicate stuff like this is much greater than years ago when this law was enacted.

Yeah. Odds are if it's been abandoned for a significant amount of time it will need some major investment to make it habitable again, possibly even structural works.

Knock into the house in Ranelagh or the neighbours and ask if there's any contact details for the owners of the house you want to buy, a lot of Ranelagh's estates and streets are mature developments and will have families in them from 2-3 generations back so odds are someone in the area will know the owners and have a way of getting in touch with them.

Del2005

LirW wrote: »

I When someone shows up they can't just boot you out straight away.

Can you clarify this. If I find someone trying to steal my property I cannot remove them, doesn't sound right.

LirW

Del2005 wrote: »

Can you clarify this. If I find someone trying to steal my property I cannot remove them, doesn't sound right.

Afaik you have to go through the eviction process in this case. But I'm open for clarification.

El Tarangu

Del2005 wrote: »

Can you clarify this. If I find someone trying to steal my property I cannot remove them, doesn't sound right.

If you call the guards, they will tell you its a civil matter. Google "[certain ethic group] squatters" and there are plenty of horror stories about people going away on holidays and coming back to find a family living in their house. They eventually get it back, but usually not before a lot their possessions are wrecked.

(Just to be clear, I am not conflating the OP taking over a long-abandoned house with the situation above).

drunkmonkey

I think you need to visit the address in Ranelagh and ask the neighbors there where are the couple gone, maybe the postman has a forwarding address, have you contacted the local estate agent in case they sold it and would have a lot more details than your dad, they should have a phone number or name.
Does your dad remember who the agent was?

secondrowgal

This is really interesting. Is adverse possession also available for properties that are owned by the government (and "managed" by the OPW) but are being let go to wrack and ruin??

LirW

secondrowgal wrote: »

This is really interesting. Is adverse possession also available for properties that are owned by the government (and "managed" by the OPW) but are being let go to wrack and ruin??

Theoretically it's available on every property. But if it's likely that someone will legally battle you to get out it's a lost cause, that's why it's important to try everything you can to legally obtain the empty property. In your case it would make sense purchasing the folio, look up the owner and go from there.

secondrowgal

LirW wrote: »

Theoretically it's available on every property. But if it's likely that someone will legally battle you to get out it's a lost cause, that's why it's important to try everything you can to legally obtain the empty property. In your case it would make sense purchasing the folio, look up the owner and go from there.

Owner is the government, and we already approached the relevant department about buying but they said that they had no plans to sell, and it would have to be public auction.

Del2005

secondrowgal wrote: »

This is really interesting. Is adverse possession also available for properties that are owned by the government (and "managed" by the OPW) but are being let go to wrack and ruin??

It's 30 years for government property.

Del2005

El Tarangu wrote: »

If you call the guards, they will tell you its a civil matter. Google "[certain ethic group] squatters" and there are plenty of horror stories about people going away on holidays and coming back to find a family living in their house. They eventually get it back, but usually not before a lot their possessions are wrecked.

(Just to be clear, I am not conflating the OP taking over a long-abandoned house with the situation above).

So if I break into a house I'm better off staying inside and saying it's mine than trying to make a get away. Make a run and I've committed a criminal act, stay in the house and it's civil. Our laws are fecked.

368100

368100 wrote: »

There is a Ranelagh Address for the couple, and when I look this up on Google Street View this looks to be abandoned too. I tried to get the folio for this to see if there would be any more info but it's in the Registry of Deeds so not available online.

Could you engage a professional to search for the deeds to this Ranelagh address?

Graces7

LirW wrote: »

Theoretically it's available on every property. But if it's likely that someone will legally battle you to get out it's a lost cause, that's why it's important to try everything you can to legally obtain the empty property. In your case it would make sense purchasing the folio, look up the owner and go from there.

If it is govt owned land, you need to be there 30 years not 12 ..

Cuddlesworth

El Tarangu wrote: »

If you call the guards, they will tell you its a civil matter. Google "[certain ethic group] squatters" and there are plenty of horror stories about people going away on holidays and coming back to find a family living in their house. They eventually get it back, but usually not before a lot their possessions are wrecked.

(Just to be clear, I am not conflating the OP taking over a long-abandoned house with the situation above).

Because the situation above is untrue?

runawaybishop

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Because the situation above is untrue?

Nope, was a thread about this scenario recently on here.

Subcomandante Marcos

runawaybishop wrote: »

Nope, was a thread about this scenario recently on here.

And we all know that a thread on boards is empirical evidence and thus it definitely happened.

runawaybishop

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

And we all know that a thread on boards is empirical evidence and thus it definitely happened.

True, i am probably not even a Bishop.

El Tarangu

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Because the situation above is untrue?

No it isn't

Subcomandante Marcos

runawaybishop wrote: »

True, i am probably not even a Bishop.

Next you'll say I'm not a dead Mexican revolutionary.

Cuddlesworth

El Tarangu wrote: »

No it isn't

Congrats, now show me a Irish case where somebody came back from holidays to their home having been broken into and occupied since 2002 when the laws changed significantly.

Glass fused light

Del2005 wrote: »

So if I break into a house I'm better off staying inside and saying it's mine than trying to make a get away. Make a run and I've committed a criminal act, stay in the house and it's civil. Our laws are fecked.

If the owner can't prove criminal damage was used to gain access to the house its a civil case.
There is one in Dublin which was going on for years
https://www.herald.ie/news/artist-stakes-claim-to-2m-city-building-27918487.html

Juwwi

Knocking into the neighbours beside the Ranelagh Address is probably your best bet of finding them.