What is Adverse Possession?
So what is adverse possession and how does it affect real estate? How does it allow you to gain real estate or put your property at risk by losing real estate? Adverse possession is a legal term which involves the use of a property over a certain period of time and certain actions that allow you to become the owner of that property simply by using it in a certain way. The key to understanding adverse possession is that it has to be notorious, conspicuous, and continual.
Notoriety and Time in Adverse Possession
What that means is if you rent a house from somebody for 10 years, you don’t get to own it just because you lived in it for 10 years. That’s where the word “notorious” comes in. You have to do something adversarial to the property. You have to take possession or be on the property without the owner’s permission, and you have to do it for a very long period of time. In most states, it’s either five years or seven years, and it cannot be hidden. You have to do it out in the open. You can’t secretly do it because that defeats the purpose.
Example of Adverse Possession
A good example of adverse possession is this: let’s say you live in a neighborhood and have a fence between your yard and the neighbor’s yard. After living there for 10 years, you do a property survey and find out that the fence isn’t on the property line—it’s 2 feet on your neighbor’s property. Since you used that 2 feet, maybe for a swing set or picnic table, for 10 years, you may now have become the owner of that portion of the property because it’s notorious (done without permission), out in the open, and continued for a long time.
The Legal Requirements of Adverse Possession
If you want to use adverse possession, you must ensure you do these three things. You can’t just break into someone’s house, live there for two weeks, and claim you own the house—that’s squatting, not adverse possession. Adverse possession is about acquiring property rights over time by being a possessor or occupant of the property.
Consultation and Legal Advice
At some point, you probably need to contact an attorney to file the necessary papers to become the legal owner. This article is from a law firm, I believe they’re in Oklahoma, but you have to find an attorney near you if you want to do any title work or get legal advice. For consulting, you can click the link below at actualhuman.com to discuss your scenario and see if adverse possession applies to you.
Clarifying Adverse Possession
It’s very important to understand the details of adverse possession, as there are a lot of myths and urban legends about how it works. Possession must be open (not hidden), notorious (not allowed or permitted), exclusive (not shared), hostile (not cooperative), and continuous. In Oregon, for example, the continuous possession must last for 10 years, and you must have an honest belief that it was reasonable under the circumstances. If your property extends onto someone else’s, you may have adverse possession.
Trivia About Adverse Possession
Here’s a trivia fact that might interest you: when you walk in a big city, you might notice a skyscraper or commercial building with part of its entrance blocked off with tape. Perhaps the steps are divided by three railings, and tape covers one of them. This happens because once a year, the property owners block off different parts of their steps to prevent someone from claiming adverse possession. If the public uses the steps continuously without interruption, the owners might lose their exclusive rights. So, by blocking off areas occasionally, they prevent adverse possession claims.
