Question 1

What are squatters’ rights in California?

Accepted Answer

In California, adverse possession is established only where the land has been occupied and claimed continuously for five years and the person claiming it has timely paid all state, county and municipal taxes levied on the land for those five years. Payment of those taxes must be shown by certified records of the county tax collector. Until that period has run, a person occupying property without permission has no claim to its title. This is Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 325.

Question 2

What are squatters’ rights in Texas?

Accepted Answer

In Texas, an owner must sue within ten years to recover real property held in peaceable and adverse possession by a person who cultivates, uses or enjoys it. Shorter periods apply to a possessor who holds under title or color of title (three years) or who pays the taxes and claims under a registered deed (five years). A person who enters another’s real property without legal authority or by force and refuses to leave on demand commits a forcible entry and detainer, and the person entitled to possession must give oral or written notice to vacate before filing that suit. Until that period has run, a person occupying property without permission has no claim to its title. This is Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.026; Tex. Prop. Code §§ 24.001, 24.005.

Question 3

What are squatters’ rights in Florida?

Accepted Answer

In Florida, a person who occupies real property without a written instrument of title can hold it adversely only after seven years of actual continued possession, and only if that person paid all outstanding property taxes within one year of entering and filed a return of the property with the county property appraiser. A property owner or the owner’s agent may ask the county sheriff to immediately remove a person unlawfully occupying a residential dwelling by presenting a verified complaint. That remedy applies only if the person entered unlawfully, the property was not open to the public, the owner has told the person to leave, the person is not a current or former tenant or an immediate family member of the owner, and no litigation over the property is pending between them. Until that period has run, a person occupying property without permission has no claim to its title. This is Fla. Stat. §§ 82.036, 95.18.

Question 4

What are squatters’ rights in New York?

Accepted Answer

In New York, a person who occupies real property without the owner’s permission can gain title by adverse possession only after ten years of occupancy that is adverse, under claim of right, open and notorious, continuous, exclusive and actual. A squatter is not a tenant: the law defines a squatter as a person who enters or intrudes on real property without the permission of the person entitled to possession and keeps occupying it without title, right or permission. An owner removes a squatter through a special proceeding in court, after serving a ten-day notice to quit. Until that period has run, a person occupying property without permission has no claim to its title. This is N.Y. RPAPL §§ 501, 711, 713; CPLR § 212.

Question 5

What are squatters’ rights in Pennsylvania?

Accepted Answer

In Pennsylvania, an action for the possession of real property must be commenced within 21 years. A shorter 10-year period applies to real estate of no more than one-half acre that the statute describes as improved by a single-family dwelling the possessor has occupied for the full 10 years and identified as a separate lot in a recorded conveyance, subdivision plan or official municipal map or plan. To take title under that shorter period the possessor must bring a quiet title action and give notice to the record owners, who then have one year to respond with an action in ejectment. Until that period has run, a person occupying property without permission has no claim to its title. This is 42 Pa.C.S. § 5530; 42 Pa.C.S. § 5527.1.

Question 6

What are squatters’ rights in Illinois?

Accepted Answer

In Illinois, an action to recover land must be started within 20 years after the right to bring it first accrued. A person in actual possession under claim and color of title made in good faith, who stays in possession for 7 successive years and pays all taxes legally assessed on the land during that time, is held to be the legal owner to the extent of the paper title. A person with good-faith color of title to vacant and unoccupied land who pays all taxes legally assessed on it for 7 successive years is likewise deemed the legal owner. The eviction article lets the person entitled to possession be restored to it through an eviction action when a forcible entry is made, when a peaceable entry is made and possession is unlawfully withheld, or when entry is made into vacant or unoccupied property without right or title. Since January 1, 2026, the same section also says that nothing in the eviction article prohibits law enforcement officials from enforcing criminal trespass or interferes with their ability to remove persons or property from the premises when there is a criminal trespass. Until that period has run, a person occupying property without permission has no claim to its title. This is 735 ILCS 5/13-101, 5/13-109, 5/13-110; 735 ILCS 5/9-102.

Question 7

What are squatters’ rights in Ohio?

Accepted Answer

In Ohio, an action to recover the title to or possession of real property must be brought within 21 years after the cause of action accrued. If the person entitled to bring the action is a minor or of unsound mind when the cause of action accrues, that person may bring the action within 10 years after the disability is removed, even after the 21 years have passed. Ohio’s forcible entry and detainer chapter allows an eviction action against a person who occupies lands or tenements without color of title when the person bringing the action has the right of possession. Before filing, that person must notify the occupier to leave the premises three or more days before beginning the action. Until that period has run, a person occupying property without permission has no claim to its title. This is Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.04; Ohio Rev. Code §§ 1923.02, 1923.04.

Question 8

What are squatters’ rights in Georgia?

Accepted Answer

In Georgia, possession of real property for twenty years that meets the statute’s requirements for adverse possession confers good title by prescription. Under the Georgia Squatter Reform Act of 2024, a person who claims the right of possession in good faith may file an affidavit that the property is held by someone who does not claim that right in good faith and refuses to leave. An officer shows the occupant the affidavit and turns the occupant out unless a counteraffidavit is filed, and a person who enters and lives on another’s property without the owner’s knowledge or consent commits the misdemeanor of unlawful squatting. Until that period has run, a person occupying property without permission has no claim to its title. This is O.C.G.A. §§ 44-5-163, 44-11-30.

State	Adverse possession period	Source
Alabama	10 years, with a recorded deed or the land listed for taxes	Ala. Code §§ 6-5-200, 6-2-33; Ala. Code §§ 35-9B-2, 35-9B-3, 35-9B-9
Alaska	10 years, only for a good-faith boundary mistake	Alaska Stat. §§ 09.45.052, 09.10.030
Arizona	10 years	A.R.S. §§ 12-526, 12-523, 12-525; A.R.S. §§ 12-1173, 33-1378
Arkansas	7 years, with color of title and taxes paid	Ark. Code §§ 18-11-106, 18-61-101
California	5 years, with taxes paid	Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 325
Colorado	18 years	C.R.S. §§ 38-41-101, 38-41-108; C.R.S. § 13-40.1-101
Connecticut	15 years	Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-575
Delaware	20 years	10 Del. C. §§ 7901, 7902, 7903
District of Columbia	15 years	D.C. Code §§ 12-301, 16-3301
Florida	7 years, with taxes paid	Fla. Stat. §§ 82.036, 95.18
Georgia	20 years	O.C.G.A. §§ 44-5-163, 44-11-30
Hawaii	20 years	Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 657-31, 669-1
Idaho	20 years, with taxes paid	Idaho Code §§ 5-203, 5-210; Idaho Code § 6-310A
Illinois	20 years	735 ILCS 5/13-101, 5/13-109, 5/13-110; 735 ILCS 5/9-102
Indiana	10 years, with taxes paid	Ind. Code §§ 34-11-2-11, 32-21-7-1, 32-21-7-2; Ind. Code §§ 32-31-12-2, 32-31-12-3, 32-31-12-4, 32-31-12-5, 32-31-12-8
Iowa	10 years	Iowa Code § 614.1(5); Iowa Code §§ 648.1(1), 648.3(1), 648.5(1)
Kansas	15 years	K.S.A. 60-503; K.S.A. 58-5401, 58-5403, 58-5404, 58-5407
Kentucky	15 years	KRS 413.010; KRS 413.060; KRS 383.290
Louisiana	30 years	La. Civ. Code art. 3486; La. Civ. Code art. 3475; La. Civ. Code art. 3487; La. R.S. 14:63; La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3601; La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3603
Maine	20 years	14 M.R.S. §§ 801, 810-A, 815; 14 M.R.S. §§ 6001, 6003
Maryland	20 years	Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-103; Md. Code, Real Prop. § 14-132
Massachusetts	20 years	M.G.L. c. 260, § 21
Michigan	15 years	MCL 600.5801; MCL 600.5714, 600.5711, 600.2918, 750.553
Minnesota	15 years	Minn. Stat. § 541.02; Minn. Stat. §§ 504B.301, 504B.281
Mississippi	10 years	Miss. Code §§ 15-1-13, 15-1-15; Miss. Code § 89-10-3
Missouri	10 years	Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.010; Mo. Rev. Stat. § 534.602
Montana	5 years, with taxes paid	Mont. Code §§ 70-19-404, 70-19-410, 70-19-411; Mont. Code §§ 70-24-113, 45-6-206
Nebraska	10 years	Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-202; Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 25-21,219, 25-21,220, 25-21,221
Nevada	5 years, with taxes paid	NRS 11.080, 11.140, 11.150, 40.090; NRS 40.240, 40.412, 40.414
New Hampshire	20 years	RSA 508:2; RSA 540-A:3, 540-A:4
New Jersey	30 years	N.J.S.A. 2A:14-30
New Mexico	10 years, with color of title and taxes paid	N.M. Stat. § 37-1-22; N.M. Stat. §§ 35-10-1, 35-10-3
New York	10 years	N.Y. RPAPL §§ 501, 711, 713; CPLR § 212
North Carolina	20 years	N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 1-40, 1-38; N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 14-159.50, 14-159.51, 14-159.52
North Dakota	20 years	N.D. Cent. Code §§ 28-01-04, 28-01-07, 47-06-03; N.D. Cent. Code §§ 47-32-01, 47-32-02, 12.1-22-03
Ohio	21 years	Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.04; Ohio Rev. Code §§ 1923.02, 1923.04
Oklahoma	15 years	12 O.S. § 93; 60 O.S. § 333; 21 O.S. § 1354
Oregon	10 years, with an honest belief of ownership	ORS 105.620; ORS 12.050; ORS 91.140; ORS 105.115; ORS 90.100
Pennsylvania	21 years	42 Pa.C.S. § 5530; 42 Pa.C.S. § 5527.1
Rhode Island	10 years	R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-7-1
South Carolina	10 years	S.C. Code §§ 15-67-210, 15-3-340, 15-67-240, 15-67-250; S.C. Code §§ 27-37-210, 27-37-230, 27-37-270, 15-67-610
South Dakota	20 years	SDCL §§ 15-3-1, 15-3-7, 15-3-15; SDCL §§ 21-16-1, 21-16-6, 21-16-7
Tennessee	7 years	Tenn. Code §§ 28-2-103, 28-2-101, 28-2-110; Tenn. Code § 29-18-135
Texas	10 years	Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.026; Tex. Prop. Code §§ 24.001, 24.005
Utah	7 years, with taxes paid	Utah Code §§ 78B-2-214, 78B-2-212, 78B-2-213, 78B-2-204; Utah Code § 78B-6-817
Vermont	15 years	12 V.S.A. § 501; 32 V.S.A. § 5263; 12 V.S.A. § 4853b
Virginia	15 years	Va. Code § 8.01-236; Va. Code § 8.01-126
Washington	10 years	RCW 4.16.020; RCW 7.28.070; RCW 9A.52.105; RCW 9A.52.115
West Virginia	10 years	W. Va. Code § 55-2-1; W. Va. Code §§ 55-3C-3, 55-3C-2
Wisconsin	20 years	Wis. Stat. §§ 893.25, 893.26, 893.27; Wis. Stat. §§ 175.403, 943.14
Wyoming	10 years	Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-103; Wyo. Stat. § 1-21-1402

What are squatters’ rights?

Adverse possession period, state by state

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