He found an abandoned house and started renting it. Now the court has given him ownership rights
20 years ago, a developer from Sydney found an abandoned house on the city’s west coast. He hired a renovation team, changed the locks and started renting the property to other people. Now, when the family of the last owner of the house was found and the case went to court, the court gave the developer rights to it.
The home is estimated to be worth $1.6 million. In New South Wales, tenants can obtain freehold if they have occupied the property for more than 12 years. The court awarded Bill Gertos rights to the house because he had been repairing and maintaining the property since 1998.
In court, Bill Gertos testified that he was first interested in the house in suburban Ashbury because he noticed that “it was in ruins”. He informed that it was in 1998 and that he had talked to the neighbors and determined that the property was uninhabited. – I left the property, but I decided to take it over – he said. It is documented that Gertos spent $150,000 repairing the house before tenants moved in.
Early last year, Bill Gertos filed for home ownership. Then the descendants of the house’s previous owner, Henry Thompson Downie, who died in 1947, began a legal battle with him over the property. The family of the previous owner testified that their relatives left the house before World War II due to an ant infestation. It was then rented to another tenant. He leased the house until his death in April 1998.
Australian media report that the family of the previous owner of the house intends to appeal against the court’s decision.
