On March fourteenth last year, in New York, the body of a missing businesswoman was found, murdered in order to seize her home through a loophole in the American squatting law.
Squatting laws exist in many countries, allowing individuals to acquire property under the condition of residing in it for a certain period of time and without objection from the owner. However, some Arab countries, including the UAE, do not protect trespassers.
Deputy Managing Partner and Head of International Practice at UPPERCASE LEGAL, Ratmir Proskurnov, stated in an interview with CNN Al-Eqtisadiah that "intrusion is not a common phenomenon in the UAE and countries of the Middle East and North Africa," adding that "there is no such law in the UAE that provides for unlawful possession, which 'protects squatters'."
He added that in many other countries, the process of claiming ownership is not easy, as the individual claiming ownership must occupy the property and use it openly, for example, if they have cultivated a garden on vacant land and regularly tended to it for years.
Property owners can evict squatters by filing a lawsuit or obtaining a court order, but in some countries around the world, owners may need to undergo a longer process to prove their property rights.
Deputy Managing Partner and Head of International Practice at UPPERCASE LEGAL, Ratmir Proskurnov, stated in an interview with CNN Al-Eqtisadiah that "intrusion is not a common phenomenon in the UAE and countries of the Middle East and North Africa," adding that "there is no such law in the UAE that provides for unlawful possession, which 'protects squatters'."
He added that in many other countries, the process of claiming ownership is not easy, as the individual claiming ownership must occupy the property and use it openly, for example, if they have cultivated a garden on vacant land and regularly tended to it for years.
Property owners can evict squatters by filing a lawsuit or obtaining a court order, but in some countries around the world, owners may need to undergo a longer process to prove their property rights.