re: Homeowner arrested after tense standoff with squatters

quote:

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Someone please explain to me (a rational explanation) how this is a thing. How is it not trespassing? Help me understand so I won’t think I’m losing my mind.

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It goes back to medieval times and common law theories.

The prevailing notion was that land was sacred and essential to the betterment of mankind and to "waste" or "neglect" it was a sin and a detriment to the community at large.

So if some Parisian nobleman owns rightful title to a parcel of land out in the French countryside and they do nothing with it (they often don't even know they own it) then a peasant could move in grow a farm, build a stone house or grain mill, make improvements, etc. and could establish tenant rights or even ownership over an extended period of time because they were doing something useful with the land rather than neglecting it.

It also pertains to basic disputes of tenancy and inheritance.
 
Obviously that has been basterdized in modern times and given rise to scams. These assholes aren't growing crops and building barns over the course of a decade. They are watching the obituaries and swooping in like vultures in urban environments.