A London man took over a pensioner's empty home, won the legal rights to it, and then sold it for £540,000 ($955,000 NZD).
Keith Best took over the east London three-bedroom home from Colin Curtis, who left it empty in the 1990s after previously living there with his mother.
He was working in the neighbourhood as a builder and decided to treat it as his own and began renovating it, before moving in with his wife and child in 2012.
Best then applied for the permanent possession of the property a few months later. It was worth around £400,000 ($700,000 NZD) at the time.
He won the rights, despite the judge accepting Best committed a criminal trespass.
Best has now reportedly sold the property, and pocketed the £540,000 ($955,000 NZD) profit.
The new owner Atiq Hayat, 35, told MailOnline: "This property was sold to us by Keith Best who was the legal owner.
"His name appeared on all the documents related to this house and everything was done properly, and we have nothing to worry about.
"I never met Mr Best, but my sisters did twice, when they came to see the property. It was in a very good condition, and he seemed like a very genuine man. The sale was done in the proper legal way through solicitors, so we didn't have a lot to do with him."
Hayat's sister, Khaleeda, who also lives at the home, confirmed she met Best when visiting before the sale.
Atiq said the family was not aware of the home's controversial past.
Curtis on the other hand lived on a £261 ($461 NZD) per week from his pension, and lived in a warden-assisted flat near Romford before passing away in 2018.
At the time, the judge ruled Best's adverse possession was possible in any private property where at least 10 years had passed "without effective action by the owner".
Curtis had previously launched a counter-claim to get the property back, but it was dismissed by Judge Elizabeth Cooke on the basis he was not a registered administrator of his mother's estate, giving him no legal right for the home.
His mother, Doris Curtis, died without a will. He did not realise he had to apply to become an administrator.
Best argued in court he had looked after the home for more than a decade, giving him the right to legal ownership.
He said at the time: "In 1997, I began work on the property. I then invested time and money into looking after the property. Since 2001, I have treated the house as my own."
After losing the case, Curtis said: "It's not fair. The law is an ass. It's like someone getting in your car then saying it's theirs because they're sitting in it."
"People can't believe it when I tell them. They don't understand how anyone could get away with it."
Since purchasing the home, the Hayat family have reportedly carried out renovations, along with building a back and roof extension.
The property is now worth around £650,000 ($1.15m NZD).
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