Adverse Possession
Adverse possession is a legal fiction that stretches back more than 800 years from the Middle Ages.
Based on "squatters' rights," it stems from an antiquated common law doctrine where a person who uses the land of another for a period of time becomes the owner of that property, defeating all rights of the true owner with legal or record title.
In other words, it is legalized land theft.
Our Mission
Adverse possession has no place in today's society. Like other reprehensible laws of history, such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, adverse possession is simply wrong -- it is an insidious, immoral and obsolete law that provides no social benefits.
Numerous cases stand testament to this; tragically, claims under adverse possession have even resulted in neighbors killing neighbors. Other alternatives exist.
Because of the inherent unfairness and pernicious consequences of adverse possession, the mission of End Adverse Possession Now (EAP NOW) is to completely abolish adverse possession and have it eradicated from all jurisdictions.
