The elements require possession that is actual, open and notorious, exclusive, hostile, and continuous for the statutory period. Some states additionally require color of title or payment of taxes.
Statutory periods range from five to twenty years.
Alternative Names:
Title by Adverse Possession, Prescriptive Title
Why it Matters?
Permission defeats the hostility element entirely, which makes evidence of a license or acquiescence by the record owner the most direct defense. Tacking of successive possessors extends the period where privity exists, which is how claims mature across ownership changes. Tax payment requirements in states imposing them are frequently dispositive, since claimants rarely pay taxes on land they do not own of record.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What defeats an adverse possession claim?
What is tacking?
