A SQUATTER, living in an apartment in Bao’an District without receiving permission from the property’s owner, moved part of his belongings out of the apartment Sunday, SZTV’s Spot News reported yesterday.

The property’s owner, surnamed Zhang, forgot about the property he bought 28 years earlier. When Zhang visited the apartment, he found it was occupied by strangers, according to the report.

Zhang contacted one of the people, surnamed Lin, whose family had been living in the apartment. However, Lin argued that the apartment was bought by his father from a third person.

Lin at that time said that he could move out from the apartment but wanted Zhang to compensate him 200,000 yuan (US$28,106) for the apartment’s decoration.

Zhang refused the demand.

Due to the fact that the third person was out of contact and Lin’s father was in the hospital, there had been no updates from the two sides until recently — the family was reported to have started to move their stuff out of the apartment.

Zhang’s brother contacted Lin on Monday and offered to help them move all of their stuff Saturday.

It is reported that Lin’s family had been living in the apartment for over 10 years.

A lawyer told the reporter with the Spot News that the family should pay for the rent according to market standards. (Wang Jingli)