A property developer has won a court battle over a derelict property he discovered in Sydney's west 20 years ago, after he changed the locks, renovated it and began renting it out.
Bill Gertos took possession of the house at 6 Malleny Street, Ashbury in late 1998, after the woman who had been living there died.
He believed squatters were living in the "dark and smelly" building, which had broken windows, a "fouled" bathroom, a leaking roof that was dripping water, rubbish in the rooms including a dirty mattress and no electricity.
The next day, he hired a builder who made the home watertight, secured it and changed the locks. He consulted a lawyer about his legal rights, then began to renovate the property, incurring "significant expense".
The home was then rented out.
In 2017, Mr Gertos applied to be recorded as the proprietor of the land under "adverse possession" – also known as "squatter's rights" – a highly technical area of law that allows a person to apply to take ownership of land if they have occupied it for at least 12 years.
The Registrar-General indicated his application would be approved, but relatives of the last known owner of the house launched action in the NSW Supreme Court, which meant an injunction was put in place preventing Mr Gertos from taking ownership.
In a judgment published on Tuesday, Justice Rowan Darke outlined the unusual circumstances of the case as he dismissed the relatives' application.
Justice Darke said when the last owner Henry Thompson Downie died in 1947, he did not leave a will and no representative was appointed to the deceased estate.
A tenant was living in the property at the time, and she remained there for a further 51 years until she died in April 1998.
Later that year, Mr Gertos discovered the property.
Justice Darke found that Mr Gertos openly advertised the home as being for rent, paid council rates, and arranged for a real estate agency to manage the property.
He said possession of the property could be "regarded as open, not secret; peaceful, not by force; and adverse, not by consent of the true owner".
"It has continued without interruption to the present day," Justice Darke said. "In my opinion it is possession by a person in whose favour the limitation period under the [Limitation] Act can run."
The home is estimated by Fairfax Media's Domain to be worth at least $1.3 million. It was most recently advertised for rent in July 2018, for $600 a week.
Justice Darke said he was unable to accept the submissions of the previous owner's daughter and grandchildren that they were the rightful owners of the home.
"Having considered the totality of the evidence, viewed in the light of the character of the property being a single dwelling suburban block, I am comfortably satisfied that since about late 1998 Mr Gertos has been in factual possession of the land with the intention of possessing the land," Justice Darke said.
"In essence, Mr Gertos succeeded in taking and maintaining physical custody of the land, to the exclusion of all others, and he has assumed the position of a landlord."
The previous owner's daughter and grandchildren were ordered to pay Mr Gertos' court costs.