Adverse Possession in Michigan: A Tiered Clock and No Tax Element
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Michigan · Last updated October 5, 2026
Adverse possession is the rule that lets a person who openly occupies land they do not own become its legal owner after a set number of years of possession that satisfies every requirement the state imposes. Michigan does not run a single clock. MCL 600.5801 sets a default period of 15 years, then cuts the period to 5 years where the defendant claims title through a deed made on an executor's, administrator's, guardian's or testamentary trustee's sale, through a sheriff's or other ministerial officer's deed under a court order or judgment, or through a sheriff's deed on a mortgage foreclosure sale. It is 10 years where the defendant claims title under a deed made by a state or federal officer on a sale of land for taxes, and 15 years after probate of the will where title comes through a devise. Everything else is 15 years (MCL 600.5801(4)). The second thing to know about Michigan is what the statute does not say. No provision of Michigan's limitation of actions chapter requires an occupant to have paid property taxes on the ground in dispute, and paying them shortens nothing. The elements come from the Michigan Supreme Court rather than from the statute: clear and cogent proof of possession that is actual, continuous, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, and uninterrupted for the relevant statutory period (Marlette Auto Wash, LLC v Van Dyke SC Props, LLC, 501 Mich 192, 202 (2018)). Title passes when the period expires, not when a case is filed, and a possessor puts it on record through a civil action to determine interests in land in circuit court (MCL 600.2932). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in Michigan
Which side of the boundary question are you on?
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How long does adverse possession take in Michigan?
Fifteen years in the ordinary case. MCL 600.5801(4) provides that in all other cases under the section the period of limitation is 15 years. Shorter periods apply to specified deeds: 5 years for a probate or sheriff's sale deed, and 10 years for an officer's deed made on a tax sale.
Do you have to pay the property taxes to claim adverse possession in Michigan?
No. Michigan's limitation of actions chapter imposes no tax payment requirement on an occupant. The Court of Appeals has stated that payment of property taxes is but one of many factors that may support an adverse possession claim, and is not by itself conclusive, citing Seifferlein v Foerster, 218 Mich 179 (1922).
How much proof does Michigan require from an adverse possession claimant?
The Michigan Supreme Court requires clear and cogent proof of possession that is actual, continuous, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, and uninterrupted for the relevant statutory period (Marlette Auto Wash, LLC v Van Dyke SC Props, LLC, 501 Mich 192, 202 (2018)). Clear and cogent proof is the state's own standard of proof.
Can land owned by a Michigan city or county road commission be taken by adverse possession?
No. In an action involving the recovery or possession of land, including a public highway, street, alley, easement or other public ground, a municipal corporation, political subdivision of the state, or county road commission is not subject to a claim for adverse possession, acquiescence for the statutory period, or a prescriptive easement (MCL 600.5821(2)).
Michigan adverse possession at a glance
Adverse possession lets a person who openly occupies land belonging to someone else become its owner once every requirement has been satisfied for the full statutory period. Michigan fixes that period by statute but not at one figure. MCL 600.5801 reads as a ladder: 5 years where the defendant claims title through a probate sale or sheriff's deed, 10 years under a state or federal officer's tax sale deed, 15 years after probate of a will for a devise, and 15 years in all other cases. Nothing in the chapter conditions a claim on paying taxes. The proof standard is the pressure point instead, because the Michigan Supreme Court demands clear and cogent proof of actual, continuous, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile and uninterrupted possession. Public land held by the state or a local unit is excluded (MCL 600.5821).
A cropped hedgerow in Kalamazoo County and a letter that did nothing
Take a farm field edge where a hedgerow was cleared in 2006 and the eighteen foot strip behind it has been plowed, planted and harvested every season since. The record owner wrote in 2012 asking the farmer to stop, then did nothing further. Under MCL 600.5868 an entry is not possession unless the owner stays in open and peaceable possession for a year after it, or sues on the entry within a year, so a letter with no follow through leaves the dates where they were. No tax bill ever reached the farmer for that strip, which under Michigan's chapter is not an element at all. What remains is whether twenty harvest seasons meet clear and cogent proof of actual, continuous, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile and uninterrupted possession. That is for the circuit court to decide.
Relevant Laws
MCL 600.5801 (the tiered period of limitation)
Bars any action for the recovery or possession of lands, and any entry on lands, outside the periods it prescribes: 5 years where the defendant claims title through an executor's, administrator's, guardian's or testamentary trustee's sale deed, a sheriff's or ministerial officer's deed under a court order or judgment, or a sheriff's deed on a mortgage foreclosure sale; 10 years under a state or federal officer's deed made on a sale of lands for taxes; 15 years after probate of the will for a devise; and 15 years in all other cases.
MCL 600.5821 (state, municipal and road commission land)
Provides that an action for the recovery of any land to which the state is a party is not subject to the periods of limitations or laches, and that in an action involving the recovery or possession of land, including a public highway, street, alley, easement or other public ground, a municipal corporation, political subdivision of the state, or county road commission is not subject to the limitation periods, laches, or a claim for adverse possession, acquiescence for the statutory period, or a prescriptive easement.
MCL 600.5868 (entry and possession)
Provides that no person is deemed to have been in possession of any lands within the meaning of the chapter merely by reason of having made an entry on them, unless the person continues in open and peaceable possession for at least 1 year after the entry, or an action is commenced on that entry and seisin within 1 year after the person is ousted or dispossessed of the premises.
MCL 600.5867 (presumption favoring the record titleholder)
Provides that in every action for the recovery or possession of real estate, the person establishing the legal title to the premises is presumed to have been in possession within the time limited by law for bringing the action, unless it appears that the premises were possessed adversely to that legal title by the defendant or by those under whom the defendant claims.
MCL 600.5829 (when the claim accrues)
Sets when the right to make an entry on land and the claim to recover land accrue, including at the time of disseisin for a person disseised, at death for an heir or devisee of one who died seised subject to any intervening estate, and in all cases not otherwise provided for when the claimant first becomes entitled to possession under the title the entry or action is founded on.
MCL 600.5815 (limitations reach equitable claims, and laches)
Provides that the prescribed period of limitations applies equally to all actions whether equitable or legal relief is sought, and that the equitable doctrine of laches also applies in actions where equitable relief is sought. Michigan treats quiet title claims as equitable, so both propositions bear on an adverse possession case.
MCL 600.2932 (action to quiet title)
Allows any person, whether in possession of the land or not, who claims any right in, title to, equitable title to, interest in, or right to possession of land, to bring an action in the circuit courts against any other person claiming an inconsistent interest. If the plaintiff establishes title the defendant shall be ordered to release all claims, the court may issue a writ of possession or restitution in an appropriate case, and actions under the section are equitable in nature.
MCR 3.411 (civil action to determine interests in land)
Governs actions to determine interests in land under MCL 600.2932 and excludes summary proceedings to recover possession. Requires the complaint to describe the land with reasonable certainty and to allege the parties' competing interests and the facts establishing the superiority of the plaintiff's claim, requires a statement of the title relied on with the book and page of record, opens 28 day windows for use value and improvement claims after the finding of title, and expressly excepts title acquired by adverse possession from the rule that the judgment binds only the parties.
Marlette Auto Wash, LLC v Van Dyke SC Props, LLC, 501 Mich 192 (2018)
The Michigan Supreme Court's statement of the elements, requiring clear and cogent proof of possession that is actual, continuous, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile and uninterrupted for the relevant statutory period, quoting MCL 600.5801(4) for the 15 year period, and holding that one gains title by adverse possession when the period of limitations expires rather than when an action regarding title is brought.
Michigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 58, Limitation of Actions
The chapter index for MCL 600.5801 through 600.5869, the Revised Judicature Act chapter that contains every Michigan limitation period governing actions for the recovery or possession of land. Useful for confirming that no section in the chapter imposes an acreage cap or a tax payment requirement.
Regional Variances
Michigan adverse possession rules at a glance
Statutory period
Fifteen years by default. MCL 600.5801(4) provides that in all other cases under the section the period of limitation is 15 years. The section also sets 5 years, 10 years, and 15 years after probate of a will for the instruments named in subsections (1) through (3).
Property taxes
Not an element and not a shortener. No section of MCL 600.5801 through 600.5869 requires an occupant to pay taxes. The Court of Appeals has called payment one of many factors that may support a claim and not by itself conclusive.
Elements
Clear and cogent proof of possession that is actual, continuous, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile and uninterrupted for the relevant statutory period (Marlette Auto Wash, LLC v Van Dyke SC Props, LLC, 501 Mich 192, 202 (2018)). The elements are judicial; the statute supplies only the period.
Color of title
Shortens the period by instrument type rather than through a general doctrine. MCL 600.5801(1) names probate, ministerial officer and mortgage foreclosure sale deeds at 5 years, and subsection (2) names a state or federal officer's tax sale deed at 10 years.
Acreage cap
None. The string acre does not appear anywhere in MCL 600.5801 through 600.5869 or in MCL 600.2932, so Michigan sets no limit on the quantity of land a claim may cover.
Government owned land
Excluded. State land is outside the periods of limitations and laches, and municipal corporations, political subdivisions and county road commissions are not subject to adverse possession, acquiescence for the statutory period, or prescriptive easement claims (MCL 600.5821).
Interrupting the clock
An entry alone is not possession. Under MCL 600.5868 it counts only if the person continues in open and peaceable possession for at least 1 year after the entry, or commences an action on that entry within 1 year after being ousted or dispossessed.
When title vests
On expiry of the period of limitations, not on filing. The Michigan Supreme Court has stated that one gains title by adverse possession when the period of limitations expires, not when an action regarding the title to the property is brought.
Perfecting title
A civil action to determine interests in land in the circuit court under MCL 600.2932, pleaded under MCR 3.411 with a statement of the title relied on. MCR 3.411(H) expressly excepts title acquired by adverse possession from the rule limiting the judgment to the parties.
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Michigan guides
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