The Strip You Have Been Mowing
A.R.S. 12-526 — ten years of peaceable use, less with a recorded deed or color of title
In Arizona, adverse possession is an actual and visible appropriation of the land, begun and continued under a claim of right inconsistent with and hostile to the claim of another. Peaceable possession is continuous and not interrupted by an action to recover the estate.
| The possessor | Action to recover is due within |
|---|---|
| The possessorUnder title or color of title | Action to recover is due withinThree years |
| The possessorCultivating, using or enjoying it, paying the taxes, and claiming under a recorded deed | Action to recover is due withinFive years |
| The possessorCultivating, using and enjoying it | Action to recover is due withinTen years |
How much land. Under the ten year rule, possession reaches no more than one hundred and sixty acres including improvements, or the acres actually enclosed if fewer. A recorded memorandum of title fixing the boundaries extends it to those boundaries.
Who can add up the years. Possession need not continue in the same person, but successive possessors must be in privity of estate. The five year rule does not help anyone claiming through a forged deed or a deed signed under a forged power of attorney.
The statute sets the time. What kind of possession counts beyond what the statute itself says comes from Arizona court decisions, which this page does not quote. Whether a particular strip of land has changed hands, and how to bring or answer an action over it, are questions for a licensed Arizona attorney.
Sources for this section (4)
- A.R.S. 12-526 — Adverse possession and use by possessor; ten year limitation
- A.R.S. 12-521 — Definitions
- A.R.S. 12-523 — Adverse possession under title or color of title; three year limitation
- A.R.S. 12-525 — Adverse possession under recorded deed with taxes paid; five year limitation
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Arizona attorney.