Squatters take over foreclosed homes

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Squatters are a fact of life in the Philippines.

It looks like they actually built those homes themselves though.

Sure. We call them "shanty towns" here, but along every right-of-way and abandoned building, these squatter villages spring up.

[Peikko 1,575]

20 years! I think here they would level the houses in that time frame.

We are talking brick built, Victorian homes that don't tend to fall down in quite the same way as USA timber framed houses do. Add London into the mix, with its limited space AND a booming real estate market (at the time) and you have some rich squatters.

They didn't do it to get rich though - not for the most part at any rate. It was to have somewhere to live while they worked in London. I think I am right in saying that a fair few squatters were Irish although, I could be wrong.

[S and S 12]

I suppose back when the homestead act was still around we had something similar though it was for land rather than for houses.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Squatters are a fact of life in the Philippines.

Do I actually see A/C units on some of those shacks?

Why not? They bootleg power as well. My wife's family was out of power for a week when one of the neighbors overloaded the transformer by trying to hook up without paying for the electricity.

Edited April 11, 2009 by Mister_Bill

[Peikko 1,575]

Well, when it's only land at stake, who cares? It's only when something has been built by someone else that we get this furore, apparantly.

[Mags 112]

20 years! I think here they would level the houses in that time frame.

We are talking brick built, Victorian homes that don't tend to fall down in quite the same way as USA timber framed houses do. Add London into the mix, with its limited space AND a booming real estate market (at the time) and you have some rich squatters.

They didn't do it to get rich though - not for the most part at any rate. It was to have somewhere to live while they worked in London. I think I am right in saying that a fair few squatters were Irish although, I could be wrong.

Oh absolutely. I remember they'd moved in years before, looking for somewhere to live temporarily. They fully expected to be evicted but they never heard a peep from the local council.

[Peikko 1,575]

They probably didn't even know that they would have the right to ownership if they stayed. Makes you think

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I suppose back when the homestead act was still around we had something similar though it was for land rather than for houses.

You can still homestead in the western territories. The Nevada and California deserts are littered with failed attempts at homesteading.

[dalegg 143]

20 years! I think here they would level the houses in that time frame.

We are talking brick built, Victorian homes that don't tend to fall down in quite the same way as USA timber framed houses do. Add London into the mix, with its limited space AND a booming real estate market (at the time) and you have some rich squatters.

They didn't do it to get rich though - not for the most part at any rate. It was to have somewhere to live while they worked in London. I think I am right in saying that a fair few squatters were Irish although, I could be wrong.

Always blaming the Irish.

[Peikko 1,575]

At the time, they came to do all the labouring. No one ever cares if the immigrants are illegal if they are also Irish

Edited April 11, 2009 by Madame Cleo

[S and S 12]

Well, when it's only land at stake, who cares? It's only when something has been built by someone else that we get this furore, apparantly.

Apparently it was a real problem with time as people took advantage of it. It was one of the major factors for the dust bowl as a large amount of poor people took over lands and didn't irrigate them properly. That led to dried out land that had been plowed leaving dust to fly freely. Anyway, the homestead act was for government land that wasn't really being used or owned privately. It started when the US was expanding to the west.

[S and S 12]

I suppose back when the homestead act was still around we had something similar though it was for land rather than for houses.

You can still homestead in the western territories. The Nevada and California deserts are littered with failed attempts at homesteading.

The homestead act was repealed in 1976, though it granted an extension of ten years for Alaska and Hawaii. Individual states may have other laws, but Federal law no longer allows it.

[Peikko 1,575]

Land wasn't being used? I think the Native Americans would take issue with you there.

[S and S 12]

Land wasn't being used? I think the Native Americans would take issue with you there.

You know what I mean, by US government definition, it wasn't being used. We all know it was a way to push the indians out by settling non-indians on those lands.

[Mags 112]

They probably didn't even know that they would have the right to ownership if they stayed. Makes you think

I remember from the press at the time, they really did have no idea. I think they looked into it once the council started sniffing around the area.

I'm inclined to think that if the council couldn't be arsed to take possession of those homes for 20 plus years, did no maintenance, in fact did nothing, then they didn't deserve to have them. Whereas the squatters DID and they should be rightly entitled to have possession of those houses.

Edited April 11, 2009 by Mags