I bought a house when I was out of town one time and left it empty for about 16 years, it got some rough treatment and had some homeless people living in it for a while but I live in it now.
Wow—16 years? Which state? Many states have 10-30 year takeover from squatters, but some (NYC) is 30 days and other states are 2-5 years.
Also, certain states, when renting you have to go through the eviction process to get ride of delinquent renters. It could take up to 2 years. This is how they reduce private property ownership from “serfs” like us.