What are squatters’ rights in Minnesota?
In Minnesota, an owner must sue to recover real estate within 15 years, and a person claiming a separately assessed parcel by adverse possession must also have paid the taxes on it for at least five consecutive years of that time. The tax-payment condition does not apply to boundary-line cases or to land not assessed for taxation. Minnesota’s eviction chapter allows an eviction action against a person who has unlawfully or forcibly occupied or taken possession of real property, or who unlawfully detains or retains possession of it. The same chapter provides that no person may occupy or take possession of real property except where the law allows it. Until that period has run, a person occupying property without permission has no claim to its title. This is Minn. Stat. § 541.02; Minn. Stat. §§ 504B.301, 504B.281.
| What | Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Adverse possession period | 15 years |
| Removing an unauthorized occupant | Through a court proceeding, after notice |
Source
Minn. Stat. § 541.02; Minn. Stat. §§ 504B.301, 504B.281
Read the statute in the Minnesota Statutes (Office of the Revisor of Statutes): revisor.mn.gov.
Checked against the statute on November 13, 2026.
This is a summary of the published procedure, not legal advice. Courts, local rules and the facts of a tenancy change what applies, and a defect in a notice or a filing can end a case. Have a lawyer review anything before it is served or filed.
How Seayora uses this rule
Seayora does not file, serve or appear in an eviction, and is not anybody’s lawyer. When a tenant has stopped paying, it lays out these steps for the property’s own state and city with the statute beside each one, holds back any step that would come too early, keeps an append-only record of the case — and shows the resident what would end it, legal-aid links included.
Guides on this rule
- Squatters’ Rights by State: Adverse Possession and Removal — How long adverse possession takes in 51 states, what the statutes require, and which states let law enforcement remove a squatter without an eviction case.
Compare this rule in every state
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- Every Minnesota rule on one page
The same question in other states
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii