Squatter - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition squatter

Definition :

Squatter, a squatter is one who settles or locates on land enclosed with no bona fide claim or color of title and without the consent of the owner, AIR 1968 Punj 470 (473). (Motor Vehicles Act, 1939, s. 76)

If a squatter wrongfully encloses a bit of waste land, and builds a hut on it, and lives there, he acquires an estate in fee-simple by his own wrong iin the land which he has enclosed. He may, of course, be turned out by legal process until his title is confirmed by the Statute of Limitations; but as long as he remains he has an estate in fee-simple: Williams on Seisin, p. 7. It has even been held that he will be bound by the restrictive covenant of a former owner even after he has acquired a statutory title, Re Nisbet and Pott's Contract, (1906) 1 Ch 386.

1. A person who settles on property without any legal claim or title 2. A person who settles on public land under a government regulation allowing the person to acquire title upon fulfilling specified conditions, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn.