Does a Massachusetts occupant get paid if the record owner loses the land?

No. Massachusetts distinguishes rights established by adverse possession or prescription from an eminent domain taking. Land is not taken when adverse possession is established, and prolonged failure to assert property rights can result in the loss of the title without any need for compensation (Gentili v. Town of Sturbridge, 484 Mass. 1010).

Does a deed shorten the Massachusetts adverse possession period?

No. The statute states one undifferentiated period of twenty years with no written instrument variant, and the Commonwealth's list of governing statutes contains no colour of title provision. What a deed can change in Massachusetts is the registration question, not the length of the clock.

Is there an acreage limit on a Massachusetts adverse possession claim?

No. No acreage figure appears in any of the statutes the Commonwealth lists as governing adverse possession. What Massachusetts restricts instead is category of land: registered land, Commonwealth land, railroad land, and land held for conservation or other public purposes each have their own section.

Can a Massachusetts land trust lose conservation land to a possession claim?

The statute protects it. Section 21 does not bar an action by or on behalf of a nonprofit land conservation corporation or trust for the recovery of land or interests in land held for conservation, parks, recreation, water protection or wildlife protection purposes (MGL c. 260, s. 21). Attorney review is available on scope.

Can a claim run while Massachusetts land was still publicly owned?

The Appeals Court addressed exactly that. A cause of action for adverse possession against a private party can begin to accrue during prior public ownership of the land, because nothing in the statutory language immunises formerly public land from accrual during the period of public ownership (1148 Davol Street LLC v. Mechanic's Mill One LLC, 86 Mass. App. Ct. 748).

How does a Massachusetts possessor get the twenty years recognised?

By bringing a civil action to quiet or establish the title, or to remove a cloud from it, in the supreme judicial court, the superior court, or the land court. Claimants who are unascertained, not in being, unknown or out of the commonwealth may be made defendants and described generally (MGL c. 240, s. 6).

Adverse Possession in Massachusetts: Twenty Years, Unless the Land Is Registered

Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Massachusetts · Last updated October 5, 2026

The first Massachusetts question is not how long you have been there. It is whether the land next door is registered. Adverse possession, as the Commonwealth's own law libraries put it, is a legal doctrine that allows a person to claim a property right in land owned by another, rewarding productive use of land and punishing landowners who sleep on their rights. The Massachusetts period is twenty years (MGL c. 260, s. 21), and title can be acquired only by proof of nonpermissive use which is actual, open, notorious, exclusive, and adverse for those twenty years, with every element essential and the failure of any one fatal to the claim (Ryan v. Stavros, 348 Mass. 251; Cook v. Babcock, 65 Mass. 206). The burden sits on the person asserting the title (Holmes v. Johnson, 324 Mass. 450). None of that helps against registered land. Massachusetts runs a Land Court title registration system beside the ordinary recorded land system, and no title to registered land, or easement or other right in it, in derogation of the registered owner's title may be acquired by prescription or adverse possession (MGL c. 185, s. 53). The bar is absolute, not a longer clock. No Massachusetts statute asks the occupant to pay property taxes. Lands held in the name of the Commonwealth are excluded outright (MGL c. 7C, s. 32), as is railroad land (MGL c. 160, s. 88). Title is confirmed by a civil action to quiet or establish title in the land court, the superior court, or the supreme judicial court (MGL c. 240, s. 6). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.

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How long does adverse possession take in Massachusetts?

Twenty years. Title by adverse possession can be acquired only by proof of nonpermissive use which is actual, open, notorious, exclusive, and adverse for twenty years (Ryan v. Stavros, 348 Mass. 251). The statute itself sets recovery of land claimed by adverse possession at twenty years (MGL c. 260, s. 21).

Do you have to pay the property taxes to claim adverse possession in Massachusetts?

No. The Commonwealth's own list of the statutes governing adverse possession contains nine sections and not one of them concerns property taxes. Paying the taxes is neither an element of a Massachusetts claim nor a way to shorten the twenty year period.

Can registered land be taken by adverse possession in Massachusetts?

No, and the bar is absolute. No title to registered land, or easement or other right in it, in derogation of the title of the registered owner, may be acquired by prescription or adverse possession, and no right of way by necessity is implied under a conveyance of registered land (MGL c. 185, s. 53).

Is land held by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts excluded?

Yes. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no person may acquire any rights by prescription or adverse possession in any lands or rights in lands held in the name of the commonwealth (MGL c. 7C, s. 32). Railroad land carries its own exclusion (MGL c. 160, s. 88).

Massachusetts adverse possession at a glance

Adverse possession is a legal doctrine that allows a person to claim a property right in land owned by another once the required use has continued for the full statutory period. Massachusetts sets that period at twenty years (MGL c. 260, s. 21) and requires nonpermissive use that is actual, open, notorious, exclusive, and adverse throughout (Ryan v. Stavros, 348 Mass. 251). Then it carves out whole categories. Registered land is untouchable under any length of possession (MGL c. 185, s. 53). Lands held in the name of the Commonwealth are excluded outright (MGL c. 7C, s. 32), and railroad land has its own exclusion (MGL c. 160, s. 88). The twenty year bar also does not reach the province lands in Provincetown, the Back Bay lands in Boston, land below high water mark, or the great ponds (MGL c. 260, s. 31).

Twenty eight years of mowing in Newton, stopped by a certificate of title

Suppose a household has mowed, planted and fenced a twelve foot strip behind a Newton house since 1998, with no permission ever asked or given. On the elements Massachusetts looks satisfied: the use is nonpermissive, actual, open, notorious, exclusive and adverse, and twenty eight years is well past the twenty the statute names (MGL c. 260, s. 21). Then the registry search comes back and the neighbouring lot is registered land, held under a Land Court certificate of title. Massachusetts states the consequence without a time qualifier: no title to registered land, or easement or other right in it, in derogation of the title of the registered owner, may be acquired by prescription or adverse possession (MGL c. 185, s. 53). Twenty eight years and two hundred and eighty would read the same. Whether these facts fall within the statute is a question for the court.

Relevant Laws

MGL c. 260, s. 21 (twenty year period, with the land trust proviso)

Provides that an action for the recovery of land shall be commenced, or an entry made on it, only within twenty years after the right of action or of entry first accrued, or within twenty years after the demandant or the person making the entry, or those under whom they claim, have been seized or possessed of the premises, and that the section does not bar an action by or on behalf of a nonprofit land conservation corporation or trust for land held for conservation, parks, recreation, water protection or wildlife protection purposes.

MGL c. 185, s. 53 (no adverse possession of registered land)

Provides that no title to registered land, or easement or other right in it, in derogation of the title of the registered owner, shall be acquired by prescription or adverse possession, and that no right of way by necessity is implied under a conveyance of registered land. The bar does not depend on how long the possession has run.

MGL c. 7C, s. 32 (no rights in land held in the name of the Commonwealth)

Provides that real property whose record title is held in the name of a state agency or its board of trustees is deemed real property of the commonwealth, and that notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no person shall acquire any rights by prescription or adverse possession in any lands or rights in lands held in the name of the commonwealth.

MGL c. 260, s. 31 (actions by the Commonwealth, and the named exclusions)

Provides that no action for the recovery of land shall be commenced by or on behalf of the commonwealth except within twenty years, but that the section does not apply to the province lands in Provincetown lying north and west of the line fixed by chapter 91, section 25, to the Back Bay lands in Boston, or to any Commonwealth property below high water mark or in the great ponds, and does not bar any action by the commonwealth or a political subdivision for land held for conservation, open space, parks, recreation, water protection, wildlife protection or other public purpose.

MGL c. 260, s. 28 (a bare entry is not possession)

Provides that no person shall be held to have been in possession of land within the meaning of the chapter merely by reason of having made an entry on it, unless the person continued in open and peaceable possession for one year next after the entry, or unless an action was commenced upon that entry and seisin within one year after being ousted or dispossessed.

MGL c. 260, s. 22 (time spent by a predecessor counts)

Provides that where the right or title first accrued to an ancestor or predecessor of the person who brings the action or makes the entry, or to any other person under whom that person claims, the twenty years shall be computed from the time when the right or title so first accrued.

MGL c. 160, s. 88 (railroad land)

Provides that no length of possession or occupancy of land which belongs to a railroad corporation, by an owner or occupier of adjoining land, shall create in that person or in a person claiming under them a right to the corporation's land.

MGL c. 260, ss. 29 and 30 (remainders, reversions and the death of a tenant)

Section 29 provides that where the right of entry or action of a tenant in tail, or of a person entitled to a remainder in tail, is barred by the chapter, the estate tail and all remainders and reversions expectant on it are also barred. Section 30 limits the time for anyone claiming an estate the tenant in tail or remainderman might have barred, where that person dies before the period expires.

MGL c. 240, s. 6 (action to quiet or establish title)

Provides that in a civil action in the supreme judicial court, the superior court, or the land court, to quiet or establish the title to land situated in the commonwealth or to remove a cloud from the title, persons who are unascertained, not in being, unknown or out of the commonwealth, or who cannot be actually served, may be made defendants and described generally, and permits joinder of plaintiffs holding separate parcels derived from a common source.

Massachusetts law about adverse possession, Trial Court Law Libraries

The Commonwealth's own law library guide to adverse possession. It supplies the definition used on this page, the complete list of the Massachusetts General Laws sections that govern the subject, and the quoted holdings of Ryan v. Stavros, Cook v. Babcock, Holmes v. Johnson, Miller v. Abramson, Nannucci v. Hynds, Gentili v. Town of Sturbridge and 1148 Davol Street LLC. Last updated August 21, 2024.

Regional Variances

Massachusetts adverse possession rules at a glance

Statutory period

Twenty years. An action for the recovery of land must be commenced, or an entry made, only within twenty years after the right of action or of entry first accrued (MGL c. 260, s. 21).

Property taxes

Irrelevant. The Commonwealth's own list of the nine statutes governing adverse possession contains no tax provision, and none of those statutes mentions a tax payment by the possessor. Taxes are neither an element nor a shortcut.

Registered land

The decisive question. No title to registered land, or easement or other right in it, in derogation of the title of the registered owner, may be acquired by prescription or adverse possession (MGL c. 185, s. 53). The bar carries no time qualifier.

Elements

Nonpermissive use that is actual, open, notorious, exclusive, and adverse for twenty years (Ryan v. Stavros, 348 Mass. 251). All these elements are essential to be proved and failure of any one is fatal to the claim (Cook v. Babcock, 65 Mass. 206).

Burden of proof

On the claimant. Acquisition of title through adverse possession is a fact to be proved by the one asserting the title, and the burden extends to all of the necessary elements (Holmes v. Johnson, 324 Mass. 450).

Colour of title

Does not shorten the period. The statute states a single twenty year period with no written instrument variant, and no colour of title provision appears among the governing statutes.

Acreage cap

None. No acreage figure appears in any of the governing statutes. Massachusetts limits categories of land instead of claim size.

Effect of a bare entry

Not enough. A person is not held to have been in possession merely by having made an entry, unless open and peaceable possession continued for one year after, or an action was commenced on that entry and seisin within one year after ouster (MGL c. 260, s. 28).

Commonwealth land

Excluded outright. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no person may acquire any rights by prescription or adverse possession in any lands or rights in lands held in the name of the commonwealth (MGL c. 7C, s. 32). Attorney review is available on how this reaches other public bodies.

Named geographic exclusions

The twenty year limit on actions by the Commonwealth does not apply to the province lands in Provincetown lying north and west of the line fixed by chapter 91, section 25, to the Back Bay lands in Boston, or to Commonwealth property below high water mark or in the great ponds (MGL c. 260, s. 31).

Conservation and public purpose land

Protected twice over. Section 21 preserves actions by nonprofit land conservation corporations and trusts, and section 31 preserves actions by the Commonwealth or a political subdivision, for land held for conservation, open space, parks, recreation, water protection, wildlife protection or other public purpose.

Railroad land

Excluded. No length of possession or occupancy of railroad corporation land by an owner or occupier of adjoining land creates any right to it (MGL c. 160, s. 88).

Perfecting title

A civil action to quiet or establish title, or remove a cloud from it, in the supreme judicial court, the superior court, or the land court, with machinery for naming unknown and unascertained claimants (MGL c. 240, s. 6).

Source verification status

The values on this page come from the Commonwealth's own Trial Court Law Libraries guide, last updated August 21, 2024. The verbatim statutory sentences were taken from an independent codified republication because the Legislature's own site could not be reached on the verification date, so a re-check against it is recommended and attorney review is available.

Frequently Asked Questions

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