Abandoned houses are not difficult to spot - the long grass, peeling paint, torn curtains, gates off hinges, leaning fences and overflowing letterbox are giveaways.
It could be a deceased estate, or a house awaiting demolition or major renovation, it could be the owner has been away for a long time, or it could be that a long term tenant has died.
There's always a story.
One story concerns a house in Erskineville, in inner-city Sydney. The neighbour had noticed a terrible smell coming from the house, but it was not until a year later that she reported it to the Police. Her neighbour's decomposed body was found wedged between the stove and the sink. A real estate agent tracked down the owner's family and sold the house, putting paid to any claim for possessory title.
In most cases, someone is keeping an eye on the house. Someone is paying the Council rates and water rates. Someone is collecting the mail. Someone mows the lawn once in a while. If you are interested in purchasing, you ask the neighbours or the Council for contact details. Or tape a note on the front door. You could carry out a title search.
Occasionally, the occupier dies and nobody takes an interest. These houses are suitable for possessory title claims.
A recent example was in the NSW Supreme Court case of McFarland v Gertos where the Court awarded possessory title to a person who took possession of an abandoned house at 6 Malleny Street, Ashbury (pictured today in restored condition). The house is in a quiet suburban street, next to Canterbury Racecourse in Sydney.
In that case, Mr Bill Gertos took possession and persuaded the court that his adverse possession was Open, not secret; peaceful, not by force; and adverse, not by consent of the true owner;and it was continuous for 12 years.
He took possession in 1998, cleaned out the rubbish, made it habitable, rented it out and paid the rates. He spent more than $100,000 renovating the house in 2015.
It was not until 2017 that the deceased's family took an interest in the house. But it was too late: their father/grandfather's title was extinguished in 2010 (12 years after 1998).
As a result, the title is now in Bill Gertos' name to a house worth $1.7 million.
But is it unjust enrichment? The family did not claim compensation for the value of the house net of what Mr Gertos spent in renovations in this case, presumably because it did not occur to their legal team to make a claim for unjust enrichment.
To read my detailed case note click on