The legality of Adverse Possession in North Carolina USA?

Question

If I was to practice Adverse Possession would that put me at a high risk of going to jail/prison or am I protected due to Adverse Possession / rights for housing? What would I have to do to ensure I would NOT go to jail or have my possessions seized without prior warning/knowledge? (please answer this question in regards to the area which I am asking which is: Durham NC USA)

Answer 1

I agree with acermill, this does not usually involve an actual dwelling. The most common occurance is encroachment. I have an example of that on my own property. My neighbor made a small parking place not on his land, before I bought the property on which the parking place is located. He acknowledged that it is on my property and that is as a result of a misunderstanding of the location of the property line. He also asked if it were ok to leave it there as he uses it during snowy weather to park as his house is down hill and getting up would be virtually impossible. I had no problem with that.

I asked my lawyer about this at closing and he said that this would qualify under the "Adverse possession" concept. He advised me to write a note to my neighbor acknowledging the encroachment and granting permission the parking place to remain. This documents my knowledge of the situation thus removing any right to ownership under the claim of "AP".

Since this is a civil matter and not a criminal one, the consequence would not be jail time, just litigation and likely eviction prior to the passage of the legal time for claiming AP.

If you are in a dwelling and expect to be able to claim AP, then you are taking a great risk. Anything you do to the property belongs to the owner without recourse to compensation to you.

Why bother! If it isn't yours, stay off or out of it.

Answer 2

I'm not sure what you are asking here. "Adverse possession' is the real estate concept of obtaining title to someone else's land because you have exclusively occupied and maintained said lands for at least two decades.

You can't 'practice' adverse possession. It's a legal process, and rarely involves housing, since it's extremely difficult to occupy the house of another as if it belonged to you.