You know how they say that the law is an ass? Well, here's a perfectly good example of that:
An 89-year-old man has been left both heartbroken and betrayed after his North York bungalow was stolen from him in the rising wave of title fraud.
Paul Reviczky, who fled Hungary in 1957 to escape Communist persecution, is one of the latest homeowners to discover that Ontario law favours banks, mortgage companies and purchasers over victims of fraud.
But wait, it gets worse!
Reviczky's lawyer, Tonu Toome, says it was "very painful" to have to break the news to Reviczky that he may lose his house forever - even though he was an innocent victim of fraud - because Ontario law recognizes the transaction as valid where the purchaser is unaware of the scam.
The government recognizes that the man was victimized by thieves, that they not only committed fraud, but stole hundreds of thousands of dollars (Canadian and US alike) from him, but still allows the "new owners" to lay claim to the property. In fact, Reviczky would be legally guilty of the crime of trespassing if he sets foot on his property without their permission. What a brave new world, ain't it?
For what (little) it's worth, the minister that is in charge of this area of the provincial government is furious that the law allowed this to happen, and is working to change the law and make things right. That does not, however, change the fact that the legal system put Reviczky through this in the first place by not automatically invalidating the sale of the property. It was, after all, the sale of stolen property, the only difference between that and buying a stolen car being that you would need to get around the land title hurdle.
I wouldn't be so quick to assume that there are ample protections in American law either, given our own history with that rubbish known euphemistically as squatter's rights.
Just unbelievable. Maybe we should forge the names of judges, lawyers and justice ministers, rip them off, and then perhaps we'd see something done about this.
I'm not sure why it's that unbelievable today. With the way that things are going, it should be a pleasant surprise that the minister even gives a damn out of principle about this. Then again, in Canada's tentative defense, it neither claims to be the freest country on Earth nor does it seem to have something along the lines of the Kelo vs. New London ruling.
That is really twisted.
It should be obvious that the buyer was the victim of fraud, and pending settlement from title insurance or perp restitution, is the one out the money. It is inconscionable that the state upholds such a fraudulent sale.
The landowner was not even involved in this.
Based on your pose, I looked up squatter's rights here in virginia. It is under the title in the VA codes called "FAT CHANCE". It takes 15 years of open, hostile, and exclusive by-right occupancy. This is a position that is nearly impossible to prove in court.
I also notice that no government will allow squatters' rights on any public lands.
Where did you the squatters rights in Virginia? We are in desperate need of help
That's good to know about Virginia, but I was more referring to midwestern states where the laws might have more favorable tradition behind them. I also get jittery over the mere existance of such exceptions.
You're right, it is twisted, but what can you expect from the liberals and their conservative appeasers who dig in, rather than actually take the fight to them? Socialism has won in Canada through a war of attrition which is the Fabian method that has been proven to work so well.