A Bad Brush With a Little-Known Law

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Part of this sidebar is reprinted with permission of Macmillan Publishing Company from Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country by Les Scher. Copyright © 1974 by Les Scher.

Adverse Possession: Squatters' Rights

If you own or are about to buy land, keep Linda Hansen's experiences—as related above—in mind. Under certain conditions the title to all or a portion of your land can be challenged and lost if some other party simply uses the property—before or after you purchase it—for a specific length of time established by state law. This is called adverse possession . . . commonly referred to by lay people as squatters' rights.

The concept was originally devised in medieval England to encourage the cultivation of land (and to help fill the kingdom's coffers, since more taxes could be collected on property that was occupied or otherwise developed). The intent of the law, therefore—to assure that landowners make reasonably productive use of their property—was (and, debatably, still is) more or less sensible. But it may also present pitfalls to the unwary.

In fact, in some cases you can be subject to a claim of adverse possession even though you've had a title search conducted and have purchased title insurance . . . a fact that makes it all the more important to understand the circumstances under which such a situation can evolve.

Here's what Les Scher has to say about the subject in his excellent book, Finding and Buying Your Place in the Country (Macmillan, 1974, $11.95):

For a person to take your title away from you, his use of your land must be [1] hostile, [2] actual, [3] notorious, [4] exclusive, [5] continuous, and [6] under a claim of title for [7] a specified period of time. Each of these elements must be met by the person, or "squatter, " who seeks to adversely possess your land.

[1] The possessor must use your land without your permission and must deny the fact that you are the true owner. Thus, if you give the person permission to, or specific orders not to, use the land, he can never gain 'title by adverse possession. His use must be "hostile" to you.

[2] The person must be making "actual" use of your land. He must be living or working on the land in some fashion. Some activities that have led to adverse possession of portions of land in the past include clearing brush, cutting trees, planting crops, putting in ditches, erecting a building, fencing off a section of the land, and living on the land.

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