united-states
How easy/hard is it to make an adverse possession claim on a vacant lot in Virginia, USA?
<p>I know each state differs in adverse possession laws but reading into Virginia, it sounds very easy to do. All one has to say is they maintained some portion of land for 10 years undisputed and now they can claim they &quot;own&quot; the property.</p>
<p>My mother owns a vacant land and I notice someone is mowing the lawn. One of the claims of adverse possession is that they make the land theirs undisputed (&quot;Planting your flag&quot; so to speak) and they make it known to the supposed owner that they maintain and control the land. However, whoever is mowing the vacant land is doing so in secret and without letting us know it.</p>
<p>From what I understand in most adverse possession case, someone builds a structure or improve a portion of a property as theirs. For example, a farmer might plant crops in a land which is basically something you can't keep hidden and the owner would have more than enough time to dispute it with survey or otherwise. Then there are cases of building a shed or structure or fence over/just before someone's property line and one can make a claim that a part of a property is theirs. However, to claim an entire property, I never really heard of such a case but I don't know the law enough to really know.</p>
<p>I'm just worried that after some time they could come over with some sort of paperwork or something and claim that the land belongs to them because they maintained it for so long. Can anyone explain what sort of ways someone could make an adverse possession claim and just how successful they can be?</p>

<p><strong>It's not THAT easy, and it's fifteen years, not ten.</strong></p>
<p>As you say, Virginia requires your neighbors to do more than mow your lawn to get title to your land. In Virginia, most of these requirements are laid out in judicial decisions, not statutes. However, the one requirement <a href="https://vacode.org/8.01-236/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">set by statute</a> is that the possessor has to have &quot;possessed&quot; the land <strong>for 15 years.</strong></p>
<p>As for the rest of the requirements, they are the usual ones. Ten years ago, the <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1058407/helms-v-manspile/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Supreme Court of Virginia</a> gave a nice, concise summary. It said that to &quot;establish title...by adverse possession,&quot; your neighbor would have to prove that their possession was:</p>
<ol>
<li>actual,</li>
<li>hostile,</li>
<li>exclusive,</li>
<li>visible, and</li>
<li>continuous...</li>
</ol>
<p>Here is what the Court said each element requires:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Use and occupation of property...constitutes proof of actual possession. One is in hostile possession if his possession is under a claim of right and adverse to the right of the true owner. One's possession is exclusive when it is not in common with others. Possession is visible when it is <em>so obvious that the true owner <strong>may be presumed</strong> to know about it.</em> Possession is continuous only if it exists without interruption for the statutory period.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Two things to notice:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li><p>Because your neighbor's possession must be <em>adverse,</em> you can stop the 15 year possession &quot;<em>clock</em>&quot; by simply <em>giving them your permission</em> to mow the lawn.</p>
</li>
<li><p>It does not matter that your neighbors are mowing &quot;in secret and without letting us know it.&quot; That you are here asking about it shows the mowing so &quot;visible&quot; that you know what is going on.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>For more information</strong></p>
<p>Whether your neighbors can claim your land depends on how Virginia courts have interpreted the law. Luckily for you, several Virginia lawyers have gone online to explain those details. These two, (one in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/realestate/2003/03/22/the-rules-of-adverse-possession-determine-who-is-entitled-to-occupy-land/a6b88fc8-352f-445d-9336-a26a66f53c82/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Washington Post</a>), give nice <a href="http://richfishlegalblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/supreme-court-of-virginia-affirms-law.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">overviews</a>, while <a href="https://www.hovplc.com/blog/2016/october/squatters-rights-what-it-is-and-what-it-is-not/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this guy,</a> says mowing alone probably won't do it. <a href="https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/who-can-claim-property-based-adverse-possession-virginia.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This guy</a> says, &quot;Virginia courts don’t make adverse possession easy,&quot; but he's a <a href="https://www.arentfox.com/attorneys/brian-farkas" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NYer</a>, through and through, so who knows whether he knows what he's talking about?</p>
<p>Of course, none of this is a substitute for talking to a Virginia lawyer with experience in adverse possession.</p>
