Adverse Possession
Or how being a cunt can make you rich.*

As previously mentioned I work in the construction industry, we learn alot of useless stuff. This includes alot of stories relating to boundary disputes between neighbours, people bankrupting themselves over six inches (insert knob joke) of land.

However one story in particular sticks out. The case of Powell Vs McFarlane, this is the story of a small boy (Powell) who started using a field next to his house to graze his cow, which belonged to someone else (McFarlane) Fast forward through the long passage of time and many court cases at the end of which the small boy (now a grown man) was awarded ownership of the land in question. Current value of the land about £10 Million due to a proposed bypass development.

McFarlane it seems got his revenge though. Several weeks after the land was awarded to Powell he was found dead in the woods behind his house having 'committed suicide' with a shotgun. Karma is a bitch.

*Story is 100% true, google it.
(Psymon_Spark Jesus Saves! The rest of you take 4d6 damage, Mon 5 Oct 2009, 15:03, 3 replies)

My mum is having to avoid something like that now!
She lives in France and needs a field at the bottom of her garden mowed, it's not that big, just on a hill, so is pretty useless. Anyway, the grass is about 3ft, and a local french guy said he would come and mow it for free, and keep the grass for hay.

My mum said this was fine, but when she asked some friends, she found out she would have to charge a token amount, so that the field doesn't cease to be hers.
(The Kwyjibo A big, dumb, balding North American ape., Mon 5 Oct 2009, 15:09, closed)

This is true
But he'd have to do it for eleven years (i think? dont know french law) and prove that he wanted to steal the land.
(Psymon_Spark Jesus Saves! The rest of you take 4d6 damage, Mon 5 Oct 2009, 15:12, closed)

I think it was 3 or 5 in France...

(The Kwyjibo A big, dumb, balding North American ape., Mon 5 Oct 2009, 16:38, closed)