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(Commonly Referred to as Squatters'
Rights)
If you and your predecessors have
been in uninterrupted possession of Crown land without benefit
of title for 20 years or more prior to January 1, 1977, and
continuing up to the present time, you may be eligible for a
Crown Grant under Section
36 of the Lands
Act c.36, Statutes of Newfoundland and Labrador,1991, as
amended, at a nominal cost. To obtain a Crown grant, you must
file an
Application for Grant of Land (Squatter's Rights) (PDF) as explained
below.
How to Apply for a
"Squatters' Rights" Grant
1.) Completing The
Application:
Carefully read the entire
application and ensure that all parts are fully completed in
detail. Please give your full name, complete mailing address,
and the telephone number(s), email address or facsimile number
where you can be reached at most times.
In the spaces provided, state the
location of the land, the electoral district, and the distance
and direction from the nearest community if necessary. You must
give enough information about boundaries so the land can be
easily recognized. Also, provide the directions and distances of
the boundaries, and who occupies the land around the property.
If possible, include a copy of
Departmental mapping indicating the location and dimensions of
the property, and identify the location of any structures that
may be situated on the property. If a copy of Departmental
mapping is not readily available, include a rough sketch of the
land indicating the distance and direction from prominent
landmarks (eg. church, school, prominent intersection), and the
direction of nearby communities.
When you sign your application,
it must be witnessed by an official
authorized to administer an oath.
An application
fee must also be included with your application.
2.) Affidavit of Applicant:
Before you submit your
application, it is critical that you have completed the
affidavit section in detail.
Read pages 1 and 2 of the
application thoroughly. When you understand it, complete the
affidavit and then have the affidavit administered by a person
authorized to administer oaths. If you do not know a person
authorized to administer an oath, contact the nearest Regional
Lands Office for assistance.
When completing the Affidavit of
Applicant, include all information you know about your own use
and occupation of the land and any former occupation by previous
owners or successive occupants. List all the improvements and
acts of possession (eg. new fences constructed, cultivation,
etc.) that have been made to the land over the years. You may
have to contact the former occupants, if possible, to gather the
necessary information. This is important because the application
may be rejected if there is not enough information or if the
form is not correctly completed. The lack of information would
also delay the processing of the application on your behalf.
Documentation is necessary to
provide proof of how the land was acquired. You must include
properly notarized deeds of conveyance, mortgages, bills of
sale, deeds of gift, wills or any land related documents. For
example, a tax certificate may be considered as acceptable
supporting documentation. Information on properly notarized
deeds may be obtained from the Registry
of Deeds. Applicants who are unable to provide the necessary
documentation should seek legal advice in order to obtain the
proper documents.
Remember: If you
are granted title to land based upon false or misleading
information, you run the risk of having the grant cancelled at
any time in the future and may face prosecution for signing a
fraudulent affidavit.
3.) Affidavit In Support Of
Application:
The Affidavit In Support of
Application is used to support your claim to the parcel of land
applied for; it is not to be completed by a member of your
family. It should be made by any person who is thoroughly
familiar with the land over a long period of time. It is
important that the person making the affidavit follow the same
directions as those followed by the applicant when he/she
completed their affidavit. The form should be fully understood
before it is signed and it must be witnessed by a person
authorized to administer an oath.
Application Process
When the application is completed
in detail, it must be forwarded to the appropriate Regional
Lands Office with the application fee for processing.
After the application has been
accepted and registered, a Departmental official will later
contact you and arrange for a convenient time to visit and
inspect the land. This is necessary in order to determine your
claim to the land.
If your application is approved,
a written approval to survey will be issued, giving you 12
months to have the land surveyed by a registered member of the Association
of Newfoundland Land Surveyors. The cost of the survey is
your responsibility and is only to include the land that was
approved. A survey should not to be carried out until you have
received approval and your surveyor has received a Survey
Authorization from the Regional Office.
Important:
Boundary disputes can cause lengthy delay in issuing your title.
Try to get occupants of all adjoining land to agree with you on
the boundaries before the survey is carried out and have them
confirm the boundaries at the time of the survey. If boundary
disputes can not be resolved, a Crown grant can not be issued.
Upon completion and acceptance of
the survey, two (2) copies of the title document are prepared
and sent to you for signature. Both documents must be signed and
returned to the Department within the specified 90 days, and
accompanied by the grant and document preparation fees.
The title documents will then be
signed by the Minister, with one being copy placed in the Crown
Lands Registry for permanent storage and the other copy being
returned to you for your records.
Failure to submit your survey,
signed documents and monies owing within their specified time
periods will result in the cancellation of your application, in
accordance with Section
10 of the Lands
Act c36, Statutes of Newfoundland and Labrador 1991, as
amended.
Price
Application Processing Fee:
$115.00 (H.S.T. included)
Document Preparation Fee: $200.00
Grant Consideration: $200.00 Definitions
The following are a number of
terms, which, because they are points of law, may be difficult
to understand. If you do not understand them after careful
reading, it is important that you talk to someone who can
explain them to you; such as a lawyer.
- Adverse Possession, commonly
referred to as "Squatters' Rights", is possession
of land which is commenced and continued contrary to the
rights of the true owner. If possession continues for an
uninterrupted period, generally 20 years, the owner is
barred from asserting title and the possessor may acquire a
title under the Quieting
of Titles Act or the Lands
Act. Possession only gives a right to acquire title to
the parts of the land to which acts of possession relate.
- Open, Notorious, Exclusive and
Continuous Possession. "Open and notorious means
actual, visible and obvious - "so open and notorious as
to give the true owner notice of circumstances such that the
owner could not be presumed to be ignorant of the
possession." "Exclusive" means possession by
the possessor to the exclusion of the owner and all other
persons without interruption or dispute.
"Continuous" means constant throughout the period,
without interruption.
- Successive Occupants. A
possessor has a transferable interest in the property good
against all the world except the rightful owner, and their
successor has as good a right to the possession as if they
had occupied for the whole period. It is sufficient if the
possession is held by different occupants holding in
succession to each other if the possession is actual and
continuous, and passing from one to the successor. But if
there occurs a vacancy between any of the successive
occupants, the title reverts back to the true owner at such
break.
- Acts of Possession. Examples
of such acts which may be sufficient to establish a claim
are: constructing buildings, living on or occupying the
land, fencing, clearing, cultivating, and the grazing of
animals. Some actual use and occupation of the fenced
portion must be shown, such as the pasturing of cattle.
Please Note
This information is purely
intended for the general guidance of applicants. It is not a
legal interpretation, nor does it bind the Crown.
If you have any further questions
concerning Crown land or related matters, please contact the
nearest Regional Lands Office.
Related Documents:
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