Adverse Possession Takes Decades in New Jersey

Photo by Bruno Glätsch via Pixabay

One of the ways to take possession of a property is adverse possession, or “continuous trespassers’ rights,” as it is sometimes called in New Jersey. Adverse possession allows you to take possession of property that you did not buy after a certain number of years; however, you have to meet certain requirements to make an adverse possession claim.

Requirements to File an Adverse Possession Claim

In order for you to file an adverse possession claim and transfer ownership of the property to yourself, you must meet four criteria:

• Hostile possession. This means you use the property without the property owner’s permission – not that you take it by force. Use might include living in a building on the property or even using part of the property as a driveway. If you are using a small strip near the boundary line, you will most likely not acquire the entire property, whereas if you are living in a building on the property and using the entire property as if it belonged to you, you might win a claim for the entire property.

• Actual possession. You must be physically present on the property, whether you live in a house on the property, you install a driveway on a strip of the property, or you otherwise use the property as if it was yours. Using the property occasionally does not count as actual possession. If you put a fence on what you believe is the boundary line, and the owner doesn’t tell you to move the fence, you could have an adverse possession claim after 30 or 60 years, depending on the type of property. However, you won’t get the entire property – just the part you fenced off.

• Open and notorious. You cannot hide the fact that you are trespassing on the property from the property owner. While the property owner does not have to see you, your trespass must be obvious to anyone going past your location.

• Exclusive and Continuous. Unlike other states, the possession of the property cannot be split between others. In some states, if you use a portion of your neighbor’s property as a driveway, then you sell your home, the new owner can claim your time toward his adverse possession claim. Not so in New Jersey. You have to have exclusive and continuous possession of the property for 30 years. If the property is “woodland,” the time for exclusive and continuous possession 60 years.

New Jersey’s adverse possession laws have some of the longest time of possession requirements in the country. Other states have time requirements for as low as 10 years or even less.

Color of Title

The other way to file an adverse possession claim is under “color of title.” If your deed says you own a lake and the deed has been filed for at least five years, but your neighbor really owns the lake, and you pay taxes for those five years, you could file an adverse possession claim for the lake.