Bank moves to evict 23 year old squatter from $2.5m florida mansion

Andre Barbosa is 23 years old. Like many of his generation, he was struggling to afford a place to live. Unlike many of them, he found a home for free: a $2.5 million mansion in Florida.

The squatter caught the media's attention around the world this month when it turned out that the Brazilian national had invoked an obscure real estate law to claim ownership of the property.

The 7,522 square foot palace on 580 Golden Harbour Drive boasts five bedrooms, views of the canal, a curbed staircase and a marbled bath. The property would normally sell for $2.5 million, according to the current deed, and was last bought by a family for over $3 million in 2005.

But the foreclosure was repossessed by the Bank of America and has sat empty for a year, leaving the way open for Barbosa. He has lived there since July 2012, citing the Adverse Possession law that says someone can claim a property if they stay there for seven years without eviction while paying property taxes and other costs.

Now, though, Barbosa's days may be numbered: a filing in Palm Beach County has named the 23 year old alongside eight others in a case to evict the unofficial tenants.

"We'd be thrilled to get our street back the way it was," Yvonne Boice, who lives on the opposite side of the street, told the Sun Sentinel.

Real estate lawyer Gary Singer told the paper that it would take several weeks for the eviction to actually take place. "He'll be there for Valentine's Day," he predicted. "Maybe he'll spend St. Patty's Day there too."