The Strip You Have Been Mowing
G.S. 1-40 — 20 years under known and visible lines, or seven with color of title
In North Carolina, no action to recover real property may be maintained against someone who, with predecessors, has possessed it under known and visible lines and boundaries adversely to all others for 20 years. That possession gives title in fee against all persons not under disability.
Color of title. Possession for seven years under known and visible lines and boundaries and under color of title bars an action not brought within the seven years after the right accrued. Commissioner's deeds in judicial sales and trustee's deeds under foreclosure count as color of title.
Marking the lines. Where boundaries are marked on trees or by visible metal or concrete markers visible to a height of 18 inches, and a surveyor's certified map is recorded with the register of deeds, listing and paying taxes on the land is prima facie evidence of possession under known and visible lines.
The statute sets the time. What kind of possession counts beyond what the statute itself says comes from North Carolina 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 North Carolina attorney.