Adverse possession
Adverse possession is the acquisition of title by occupying someone else's land for long enough, in the right way.
In Minnesota the period is fifteen years, under Minn. Stat. 541.02.
What the possession must be#
The traditional elements, all of which must hold throughout the period.
Actual. Genuine physical use of the land.
Open and notorious. Visible enough that an owner paying attention would notice. Secret use does not count.
Hostile. Without the owner's permission. This is the element most claims fail on — a neighbour who was allowed to use the strip is not adverse, however long it went on.
Exclusive. Not shared with the true owner or the public.
Continuous for the full period.
Minnesota also imposes a property tax payment requirement in certain circumstances, which narrows the doctrine further.
Not against registered land#
The exception that matters most in Minnesota.
Minn. Stat. 508.02 removes Torrens registered land from adverse possession entirely.
Occupation of registered land, however long, however open, however exclusive, does not ripen into title. The certificate holds.
That is one of the strongest protections the Torrens system offers, and it is a substantive reason to register land where boundaries or occupation are uncertain.
How it actually arises#
Not through anyone deliberately squatting.
The real cases are mundane. A fence built slightly over a boundary in 1974 and never moved. A driveway that crosses a corner. A garage built two feet into the neighbour's lot. A strip of lawn mowed by the wrong household for thirty years.
Nobody intended anything. A survey at a sale reveals it, and by then decades have run.
Boundary by practical location#
Minnesota recognises a related doctrine that addresses the same situation differently.
Where boundaries have been treated as being in a particular place by acquiescence or agreement over a long period, courts may fix them there rather than at the surveyed line.
It reaches the same practical result — the fence becomes the boundary — through different reasoning, and it is often the more natural fit for a long-standing fence case.
What to do about it#
As an owner: get a survey before a fence goes up, and if you permit a neighbour's use, do it in writing. Permission defeats hostility, and a signed licence prevents fifteen years turning into a claim.
As a buyer: a survey is what reveals this, and it is the reason survey exceptions on a title commitment matter. Removing that exception requires a survey, and on any property with visible boundary features that do not match the description, it is worth the cost.