Adverse Possession

A legal principle that allows a person to claim ownership of land they have openly used and maintained for a long period, even without the legal owner's permission.

What It Means

Adverse possession allows someone who has been using another person’s land openly, continuously, and without permission for a required period of time to claim legal ownership. In Minnesota, the required period is 15 years.

Why It Matters

The most common adverse possession situations involve boundary disputes – for example, a fence that has been in the wrong place for decades, or a neighbor who has been mowing and maintaining a strip of land that technically belongs to someone else.

To claim adverse possession in Minnesota, a person must show their use of the land was:

• Actual – they physically used or occupied the land
• Open and notorious – their use was visible and obvious
• Continuous – they used it without significant interruption for 15 years
• Hostile – they used it without the legal owner’s permission
• Exclusive – they treated it as their own

Example

A homeowner builds a garden that extends 5 feet past their property line onto the neighbor’s land. For 20 years, the homeowner openly maintains the garden, and neither neighbor ever objects. The homeowner may have a claim to that strip of land through adverse possession.