What is adverse possession in Arizona?

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Accepted Answer

Adverse possession in Arizona means an actual and visible appropriation of land, commenced and continued under a claim of right that is inconsistent with and hostile to the claim of another . The possession must be "peaceable" — continuous and not interrupted by an adverse action to recover the estate — and it need not be held by the same person throughout, so long as successive possessors share a privity of estate .

Arizona law provides four distinct limitation periods, after which the true owner is barred from suing to recover the property:

- Two years — where the person in possession claims the property by right of possession only, with no title or color of title; the possessor need not show title against a plaintiff who shows no better right .
- Three years — where the possessor holds peaceable and adverse possession under title (a regular chain of transfer from the sovereignty of the soil) or color of title (a chain of transfer with defects such as unrecorded or improperly recorded instruments, not involving a lack of intrinsic fairness and honesty) .
- Five years — where the possessor is in peaceable and adverse possession, is cultivating, using, or enjoying the property, is paying taxes on it, and claims under a duly recorded deed; this period does not benefit anyone claiming under a forged deed or a deed executed under a forged power of attorney .
- Ten years — where the possessor is in peaceable and adverse possession and is cultivating, using, and enjoying the property without a deed; this possession is limited to 160 acres (or the number of acres actually enclosed, if less), unless the claim is held under a duly recorded written memorandum of title fixing the boundaries, in which case possession extends to those boundaries .

When an action for recovery is barred under any of these provisions, the person entitled to the bar is held to have full title, precluding all claims .

The limitation period is tolled for certain disabilities: if the person entitled to sue was under eighteen or of unsound mind when the adverse possession commenced, the disability period does not count toward the limitation, and the person has the full period after the disability is removed . If the person was imprisoned, the tolling lasts only until the person discovers — or with reasonable diligence should have discovered — the right to bring the action, after which the full period runs .