Squatters Rights by State 2025
State | Years to Claim Ownership↓ | Years of Possession Limit | Additional Squatters' Rights Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | New Jersey | 30 | 20+ | In New Jersey, squatters must occupy the property for 30 years before claiming adverse possession. In the case of woodlands, squatters must occupy it for 60 years. |
 | Texas | 30 | 10 | A continuous period of 30 years of occupation by a squatter is required to claim adverse possession. |
 | Ohio | 21 | 20+ | Squatters must live on a property for 21 years without permission, openly and obviously, to make an adverse possession claim. |
 | Pennsylvania | 21 | 20+ | |
 | Delaware | 20 | 20 | Claimant must live on property. |
 | Hawaii | 20 | 20+ | |
 | Idaho | 20 | 20+ | Requires payment of taxes and possession for 20 years. |
 | Illinois | 20 | 20+ | Squatters must overtly occupy a property without permission for a minimum of 20 years and pay taxes for 7 years to be given the chance to transfer the deed. |
 | Maine | 20 | 20+ | A squatter must have continuous and uninterrupted possession for 20 years and either a claim of title or the payment of taxes. |
 | Maryland | 20 | 20+ | The general legal requirement for adverse possession is continuous possession for 20 years. It also has 30-day Maryland squatters’ rights and will be applied in most situations. |
 | Massachusetts | 20 | 20+ | Squatters must have open, actual, notorious, exclusive and ongoing possession for 20 years to claim ownership. |
 | New Hampshire | 20 | 20+ | Squatters must maintain continuous possession of the property for at least 20 years. |
 | North Carolina | 20 | 20+ | To claim adverse possession, continuous possession of the property for 20 years is required, except in cases where the squatters have a justifiable reason to believe they own the property. In the latter case, the time requirement drops to 7 years. |
 | North Dakota | 20 | 20+ | A squatter must occupy the property for 20 years, have an implied title, or pay taxes for 7 years to claim adverse possession. |
 | South Dakota | 20 | 20+ | A squatter must occupy the premises for 20 years to claim adverse possession/color of title or have paid taxes for 10 years to claim adverse possession. |
 | Wisconsin | 20 | 20+ | Wisconsin also has 30-day squatters’ rights that can be applied. But to claim adverse possession, a squatter must possess the property in a hostile, exclusive, open, notorious, continuous, and uninterrupted manner for 20 years. |
 | Colorado | 18 | 15-20 | Squatters can take possession of property where they have lived for 18 years with a deed or pay taxes on the property for seven years. With the 30-day squatter provision in Colorado, if the property owner knows a squatter is occupying a given property, the squatter can gain the rights after staying on the property for 30 days. |
 | Connecticut | 15 | 15-20 | |
 | Kansas | 15 | 7 | The state law requires a squatter to be in actual possession of the property for at least 15 years continuously. |
 | Kentucky | 15 | 15-20 | Adverse possession can occur if a squatter occupies the property for 15 years and establishes the Color of Title for 7 years. |
 | Michigan | 15 | 15-20 | After 15 years of overt possession, a squatter can gain possession of the property but must go to court to receive the legal title. |
 | Minnesota | 15 | 15-20 | Squatters must have open, actual, obvious, exclusive, and continuous possession of property for 15 years to claim adverse possession. |
 | Oklahoma | 15 | 15-20 | |
 | Vermont | 15 | 15-20 | |
 | Virginia | 15 | 15-20 | |
 | Alabama | 10 | 10 | Squatters can take possession of the property if they have a deed to it or have paid its taxes for 10 years. |
 | Indiana | 10 | 10 | To gain adverse possession, a squatter must occupy a neglected property openly for at least 10 years. |
 | Iowa | 10 | 10 | Requires continuous possession. |
 | Louisiana | 10 | 20+ | Squatters must have continuous possession of the property for 10 years, acting as if it were their own and cannot be convicted of disturbing the peace in any way during possession. |
 | Mississippi | 10 | 10 | Squatters must have open, obvious, and exclusive possession of the property and use the property in an uninterrupted fashion for a minimum of 10 years for adverse possession. |
 | Missouri | 10 | 10 | A squatter must retain continuous possession of the property for a minimum of 10 years. There is also a 30-day squatters’ rights provision in Missouri. |
 | Nebraska | 10 | 10 | The state requires squatters to have continuous, open, and notorious possession of the property for 10 years. |
 | New Mexico | 10 | 10 | A squatter must occupy the property for 10 years with apparent title and payment of property taxes for 10 years. |
 | New York | 10 | 10 | To claim adverse possession, squatters must live on the property openly and illegally for at least 10 uninterrupted years. In New York City, a previous tenant can gain squatter’s rights just 30 days after their lease term has ended. |
 | Oregon | 10 | 10 | |
 | Rhode Island | 10 | 10 | |
 | South Carolina | 10 | 10 | Squatters must occupy the property for a statutory period of 10 years. There’s also a 30-day squatters provision in South Carolina. |
 | Washington | 10 | 10 | |
 | West Virginia | 10 | 10 | |
 | Wyoming | 10 | 10 | |
 | Alaska | 7 | 10 | A squatter can gain adverse possession with the deed to the property and live on the property for seven years or pay taxes on the land for the past 10 years. |
 | Arkansas | 7 | 7 | A squatter gains adverse possession of a property after holding the deed and paying taxes for seven years. |
 | Florida | 7 | 7 | Must occupy for 7 years and either pay taxes or hold color of title. |
 | Georgia | 7 | 20 | Squatters can gain possession of a property by living on it for 7 years or more, except for undeveloped land, where the minimum occupation is 20 years. |
 | Tennessee | 7 | 20+ | A minimum of 7 years of possession with implied title or 20 years of occupancy without title is required to claim adverse possession. |
 | Utah | 7 | 7 | |
 | California | 5 | 7 | Squatter must have paid property taxes during the five years. |
 | Montana | 5 | 7 | Requires payment of taxes. |
 | Nevada | 5 | 15-20 | Squatters are required to be on the premises for a minimum of 5 years before seeking adverse possession. |
 | Arizona | 3 | 10 | A squatter with the deed who has paid the taxes on your property for three or more years can take adverse possession of it unless the property is a city lot where the squatter needs the deed and has paid taxes for five years. |
- Property ownership laws and Required Time of Ownership (RTOO) can change at any time. Interested parties are encouraged to confirm local laws before filing any legal claims.
Every state has laws regarding squatters. Squatters are people who stay in another’s house or property with no permission. The property’s owner will obviously want to remove squatters, but each state has its own rules and laws for how and when this can be done. Some notable examples of state laws regarding squatters are below.
Arkansas
After 7 years, squatters can claim a home that isn’t theirs. However, they must not sneak in and around the place. Unless an owner tries to evict them, they eventually take over that property. Financial rules also apply, such as having to pay property taxes. One person per property only typically applies to squatters attempting to claim land. An adverse possession cannot be divided among more than one person.
California
Squatters can claim property after having lived on it continuously for 5 years. During this time, the trespassing person must have paid property taxes. They also need to make improvements on the property, and the owner has to know they are there without trying to conceal their presence. The owner must not have tried to evict them either.
Florida
Florida sees anyone that occupies a property without an owner’s consent as a squatter. Unlike trespassing, which usually might only last a few days or weeks, squatters intend on permanently taking over the property. They must have lived on the premises for 7 years without owner eviction. Moreover, they must not hide the fact that they stay on site, and they also must prove they have paid property taxes. Other rules apply too, and owners typically need to take legal action against squatters if they want.
Montana
A squatter must have lived on a piece of Montana property without an owner’s permission for 5 years. In addition, they need to have claimed a title to the real estate. That one squatter must be the only one living there for that period. They must not hide and the owner must know they are occupying that space. Once these and related criteria are met, the squatter takes adverse possession of that land. Situations like this are complicated and often require legal representation.
Tennessee
A case published in a Nashville newspaper illustrated how a squatter lived in a home that foreclosed in 2012. This person paid property taxes, and he moved in to keep the county from taking the house. In Tennessee, a person has to occupy a property for 7 continuous years. If the owner doesn’t kick out the squatter, they can claim the property. It’s not necessarily this simple, however. Situations like this might involve time in court, such as if the owner tries to evict squatting inhabitants.
Utah
If persons in Utah have continuously occupied property for 7 years, they could take adverse possession of it. However, several stipulations apply. They must claim title to that land and have paid related taxes. The original owner also must not have forced them to leave. To claim possession of land not inhabited with the owner’s permission, it usually only applies to one person living on the property. The adverse title claim cannot usually be divided among multiple people.
