Therefore, claim of right can be made by a person who trespasses on someone’s property, without his/her permission. This doesn’t mean that the person has an intention to harm the true owner, but his claim of ownership is ‘adverse’ to the owner’s interests. This term is usually a synonym for ‘hostile’ or ‘adverse’ use. ❒ Claim of right (or title) is an intention of a person to claim a property on which he/she has been living, as his/her own. The individual should regularly pay the property taxes for the land, and be involved in improving it in some way, such as building a fence around it, for example. ❒ However, there are some additional requirements that a person needs to fulfill, apart from those for adverse possession. For example, a person having color of title to a property of 20 acres, but occupying only 5 acres, would still receive the whole 20 acres when he approaches a court, provided he fulfills all conditions of adverse possession. ❒ Advantage of having color of title is that, it gives ownership of the entire property mentioned in the document, and not just the property the individual actually occupies. This means that, a person without this document would have had to occupy the property for 20 years to claim adverse possession, while he needs to live on it for only 7 years if he has the color of title. This is because, in most US states, court laws reduce the statute of limitations (SOL) period for someone who possesses this document, as compared to someone who doesn’t.Įxample : In North Carolina, the SOL period is reduced from 20 to 7 years for an individual having color of title. ❒ Color of title can be beneficial to someone who wants to claim land under adverse possession.
The defects that prevent it from giving legal ownership can be the fact that the individual who gave the land was not the true owner in the first place, was mentally ill, etc. ❒ This document can be any written instrument, such as a deed or a will.
Thus, color of title does not impart legal ownership to an individual possessing this document. Therefore, color of title only makes it seem that an individual is the real owner of a property, while this is not so. In law, a ‘title’ means ownership of a property, and ‘color’ means an appearance. ❒ Color of title is a written document that shows an individual as the owner of a piece of property, but has some defects, because of which it cannot stand up in court. These terms are often confused for one other. These conditions help courts turn down fraudulent claims, i.e., where the adverse possessor claims the land despite knowing all along that it belonged to someone else.Īn individual can claim land by adverse possession either under color of title or claim of right. Moreover, the property should be occupied in such a way as to send a message to the real owner (if any) that the occupier thinks of himself as the legal owner. He/she should be the only resident on the land. The primary condition is that, the person claiming the property should live on it for a certain period, called the Statute of Limitations, which is usually 12 – 20 years in most states. To gain property in this way, an adverse possessor usually has to live on it, and strictly fulfill certain conditions. Such a person is called an ‘adverse possessor’. In the field of law, adverse possession is a method by which an individual becomes the owner of a property without paying the true owner for it. Properties belonging to federal, state, or local governments cannot be claimed under adverse possession.
claim of right the two methods of adverse possession. WealthHow tells you the difference between color of title vs. Adverse possession is a strange law, by which one becomes the owner of a property simply by living on it.