Adverse posession is a method of acquiring the title to someone else’s property by occupying the property against the rightful owner’s rights. NOTE: Adverse posession cannot occur on publicly owned (government) land.
According to Wikipedia, “Adverse possession requires the actual, visible, hostile, notorious, exclusive, and continuous possession of the property, and some jurisdictions further require the possession to be made under a claim of title or a claim of right.”
Basically, this is essentially squatting, except in the end, one can actually gain title through adverse posession. There are various requirements for gaining title, and they do vary across states. These requirements include: a) the person (adverse posessor) must pay taxes on the property for consecutive years, b) the person must use the property for an uninterrupted, continuous period of time (varies by state), c) the person must be in posession of the property openly (not hiding or secretly posessing it), d) the person must have some kind of claim for the title.
Given that the proper conditions are met for the state that the property resides in, a person can actually squat on another’s property and gain it through adverse posession.
Adverse posession has raised somewhat of a debate on owners rights, similar to eminent-domain, as both entail property owners losing out to others who wish to posess their property.
- Discuss Eminent Domain
- Discuss Averse Posession
Article Author:
Joshua DorkinJoshua has written 539 articles for us.
Visit Joshua's Website: http://www.biggerpockets.com/
BiggerPockets.com was founded by Joshua Reed Dorkin in August 2004. An entrepreneur, web designer, real estate investor, and one-time realtor, Joshua was not satisfied by the online offerings of other real estate sites out there, and decided to build one himself. Mr. Dorkin's vision for BiggerPockets has helped to propel it into becoming one of the top real estate destinations online. His vision for the site and its future has brought national press attention to both Mr. Dorkin and to BiggerPockets.
Joshua Dorkin
Charles Feldman
Ted Karsch.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
It seems like adverse posession and eminent domain are both just legal loopholes to let people get your proprety even though they have no rights to them. Eminent domain is another reason we’re losing our rights under president Bush, here in the USA.
That comment makes it sound like President Bush came up with the idea.
what does MEC stand for when related to dates in a contract to buy and sell?