“Criminal groups obtain information from public documents. Subsequently, the invaders resort to adverse possession to appropriate properties”, stated Arturo Mandujano Quezada, Regional Prosecutor of Playas de Rosarito.
These are adverse possession claims promoted by unscrupulous individuals who take advantage of public information about properties to dispossess their owners, even obtaining information from CFE (Federal Electricity Commission) and CESPT (Tijuana Water and Sewerage Commission) bills.
“We have detected a very particular modus operandi that could occur in Rosarito, involving unfenced land or properties belonging to people who do not reside there permanently or who are absent for several months,” explained the prosecutor.
According to the official, these individuals obtain information from various public documents about the status of the properties and exploit any outstanding debts or negligence to appropriate them through adverse possession.
When the owner returns after eight months or a year, they discover their property is occupied by others. They immediately produce deeds or proof of possession and declare, “Well, I’m the owner, and there’s no law forcing me to live permanently on my property.”
That’s when the matter reaches the Prosecutor’s Office, where they realize it’s a sham transaction, involving falsified purchase agreements and, in some cases, verbal contracts. They even present false witnesses in some instances.
Another tactic these swindlers use is to place banners on the properties with the sign “private property.”
If the owner or someone else doesn’t come forward to claim possession, they continue the dispossession.
According to Mandujano Quezada, when the swindlers are caught by the authorities, they abandon the dispossession, while the victims are content to have their property back and choose not to file a report.
“This is the modus operandi used by most of the groups that organize to dispossess property owners. We are working on it. We have cases of this nature in Rosarito. The State Attorney General has been very proactive in addressing this problem. In Rosarito, we couldn’t say it’s a real estate cartel. So far, we haven’t detected that aspect,” concluded Arturo Mandujano Quezada, Regional Prosecutor for Playas de Rosarito.
Source: ecosderosarito.com
