Adverse possession

Adverse possession in common law, and the related civil law concept of usucaption (also acquisitive prescription or prescriptive acquisition), are legal mechanisms under which a person who does not have legal title to a piece of property, usually real property, may acquire legal ownership based on continuous possession or occupation without the permission (licence) of its legal owner.^[1]

It is sometimes colloquially described as squatter's rights, a term associated with occupation without legal title during the westward expansion in North America,^[2]^[3] as occupying real property without permission is central to adverse possession. Some jurisdictions regulate squatting separately from adverse possession.

^ "Adverse possession". Wex. Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
^ Libecap, Gary D. (1989). Contracting for property rights. Internet Archive. Cambridge [England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-521-36620-5.
^ Brestler, Don (2002). A young adult's guide to the Canadian west. Internet Archive. Calgary : Bayeux. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-896209-72-2.

[wex-1] "Adverse possession". Wex. Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 29 September 2017.

[2] Libecap, Gary D. (1989). Contracting for property rights. Internet Archive. Cambridge [England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-521-36620-5.

[3] Brestler, Don (2002). A young adult's guide to the Canadian west. Internet Archive. Calgary : Bayeux. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-896209-72-2.

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