Adverse Possession in North Carolina: Twenty Years, or Seven With Color of Title
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · North Carolina · Last updated October 5, 2026
Two clocks run in North Carolina, and which one applies turns on whether a piece of paper exists. Adverse possession is the rule that lets a person who openly occupies land belonging to someone else become its legal owner once the statutory period has run with every statutory requirement met. The general North Carolina period is twenty years: no action to recover real property can be maintained where the possessor has possessed the property under known and visible lines and boundaries adversely to all other persons for 20 years, and such possession so held gives a title in fee to the possessor (N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-40). Add color of title and the period drops to seven. Possession under known and visible lines and boundaries and under color of title for seven years is a perpetual bar against all persons not under disability, and commissioner's deeds in judicial sales and trustee's deeds under foreclosure are made color of title by name (N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-38(a)). Notice the phrase the statute keeps repeating. North Carolina measures a claim by known and visible lines and boundaries rather than by the familiar recital of hostile, open and notorious possession, none of which appears in the article at all. Paying the property taxes is not a requirement here, though under one narrow subsection it can serve as prima facie evidence of possession within marked boundaries (N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-38(b)). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in North Carolina
Which side of the boundary question are you on?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
How long does adverse possession take in North Carolina?
Twenty years as a general rule. No action for the recovery or possession of real property can be maintained where the possessor has possessed it under known and visible lines and boundaries adversely to all other persons for 20 years (N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-40). With color of title the period is seven years (section 1-38(a)).
Do you have to pay the property taxes to claim adverse possession in North Carolina?
No. Neither the twenty year period in N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-40 nor the seven year period in section 1-38(a) is conditioned on tax payment, and no tax payment shortens either. Section 1-38(b) gives listing and paying taxes one evidentiary role only, described further below.
Does North Carolina law require hostile, open and notorious possession?
Those words do not appear in the statute. North Carolina's limitations article on real property, N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-35 through 1-45.1, uses a different formulation: possession of the property under known and visible lines and boundaries, adversely to all other persons, for the period the statute prescribes (section 1-40).
Can land owned by the State be taken by adverse possession in North Carolina?
North Carolina does not impose a flat bar. The State will not sue a possessor who held adversely for thirty years under known and visible lines or boundaries, or for twenty-one years under color of title (N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-35). Property subject to public trust rights is excluded outright (section 1-45.1).
North Carolina adverse possession at a glance
Adverse possession is the rule under which a person occupying land that belongs to another can become its owner once the statutory period has run and every statutory requirement is met. North Carolina sets the general period at twenty years and says the possession must be under known and visible lines and boundaries, adversely to all other persons, with that possession giving a title in fee to the possessor (N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-40). Color of title cuts the period to seven years and makes the possession a perpetual bar against all persons not under disability (section 1-38(a)). Two further periods appear in the same article for claims running against the State, thirty years, or twenty-one under color of title (section 1-35). Tax payment is nowhere made a requirement of a claim.
A Chatham County timber tract where the paper changes the clock
Take forty acres of mixed pine and hardwood in the Carolina Piedmont, conveyed by a trustee's deed under foreclosure in 2017, with the corners flagged on blazed trees and a registered surveyor's certified map recorded at the register of deeds. The occupier has listed and paid the taxes on the tract every year since. Two provisions do the work. A trustee's deed under foreclosure is color of title by name, which puts the claim under the seven year period rather than the twenty year one (N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-38(a)). Marked boundaries plus the recorded certified map then make the listing and paying of taxes prima facie evidence of possession under known and visible lines and boundaries (section 1-38(b)). Whether those facts satisfy the statute is for a North Carolina court.
Relevant Laws
N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-40 (twenty years adverse possession)
Provides that no action for the recovery or possession of real property, or the issues and profits of it, shall be maintained when the person in possession, or those under whom he claims, has possessed the property under known and visible lines and boundaries adversely to all other persons for 20 years, and that such possession so held gives a title in fee to the possessor against all persons not under disability.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-38 (seven years under color of title, and the tax evidence rule)
Subsection (a) makes seven years of possession under known and visible lines and boundaries and under color of title a perpetual bar against all persons not under disability, and names commissioner's deeds in judicial sales and trustee's deeds under foreclosure as color of title. Subsection (b) provides that with marked boundaries and a recorded surveyor-certified map, the listing and paying of taxes constitutes prima facie evidence of possession under known and visible lines and boundaries.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-39 (seizin within twenty years necessary)
Provides that no action for the recovery or possession of real property shall be maintained unless it appears that the plaintiff, or those under whom he claims, was seized or possessed of the premises in question within 20 years before the commencement of the action, unless he was under the disabilities prescribed by law.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-35 and 1-37 (title against the State)
Section 1-35 provides that the State will not sue a person who has been in adverse possession for thirty years, or in possession under color of title for twenty-one years, with the possession ascertained and identified under known and visible lines or boundaries, and that thirty years of such possession gives a title in fee. Section 1-37 ratifies and confirms that possession as a legal bar against any claim under the right of the State.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-45.1 (no adverse possession of public trust property)
Provides that title to real property held by the State and subject to public trust rights may not be acquired by adverse possession, and defines public trust rights to include the right to navigate, swim, hunt, fish and enjoy recreational activities in the watercourses of the State and to use and enjoy the ocean and estuarine beaches and public access to the beaches.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-45 and 1-44 (public ways and rights-of-way)
Section 1-45 provides that no person or corporation shall ever acquire any exclusive right to any part of a public road, street, lane, alley, square or public way of any kind by occupancy, encroachment or obstruction, and that no court may hold such an action barred by any statute of limitations. Section 1-44 protects railroad, plank road, turnpike and canal rights-of-way from any statute of limitation or occupation.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-42 (possession follows legal title)
Provides that the person establishing a legal title to the premises is presumed to have been possessed within the time required by law, that occupation by any other person is deemed to have been under and in subordination to the legal title unless adverse possession for the prescribed time appears, and that a thirty year record chain of title is prima facie evidence of possession.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-41 and 1-43 (entry after action, tenant's possession)
Section 1-41 provides that no entry upon real estate is sufficient or valid as a claim unless an action is commenced on it within one year after the entry. Section 1-43 provides that where the landlord and tenant relation has existed, the tenant's possession is deemed the landlord's for twenty years after the tenancy terminates, or after the last payment of rent where there was no written lease.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 38-1, 38-2 and 38-3 (boundary special proceeding)
Chapter 38 lets the owner of land whose boundary lines are in dispute establish them by special proceeding in the superior court of the county where the land is situated, provides that the occupation of land constitutes sufficient ownership for the purposes of that chapter, and sets the procedure: a sworn petition naming all affected adjoining owners, summons by the clerk, a court-ordered survey reported within 30 days, and appeal within 10 days for jury trial de novo.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 41-10 and 41-10.1 (titles quieted)
Section 41-10 allows an action by any person against another who claims an estate or interest in real property adverse to him, for the purpose of determining those adverse claims. Section 41-10.1 allows a claimant to sue the State or a State agency in the superior court of the county where the land lies where the State asserts a competing claim of title to land that has not been condemned.
N.C. Gen. Stat. 41-89 (adverse possession by a cotenant)
Enacted in 2024. Provides that a cotenant without color of title may acquire another cotenant's interest by 20 years of adverse possession under section 1-40, and a cotenant with color of title by seven years under section 1-38, that possession is not considered adverse until an actual or constructive ouster, and that a tenant in common claiming adverse possession must prove ouster by clear and convincing evidence.
Regional Variances
North Carolina adverse possession rules at a glance
Statutory period
Twenty years in general. Possession under known and visible lines and boundaries adversely to all other persons for 20 years bars a recovery action and gives a title in fee to the possessor (N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-40), and no recovery action lies unless the claimant was seized or possessed within 20 years before suit (section 1-39).
Property taxes
Not an element and not a shortcut. Neither the twenty year nor the seven year period is conditioned on tax payment. Under section 1-38(b), where boundaries are marked and a certified survey recorded, listing and paying taxes is prima facie evidence of possession within known and visible lines and boundaries.
Statutory wording of the claim
Possession under known and visible lines and boundaries, adversely to all other persons (N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-40). The words hostile, open and notorious, continuous and good faith appear nowhere in sections 1-35 through 1-45.1.
Color of title
A genuine period shortener. Seven years of possession under known and visible lines and boundaries and under color of title is a perpetual bar against all persons not under disability, and commissioner's deeds in judicial sales and trustee's deeds under foreclosure count as color of title (N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-38(a)).
Acreage cap
None. No acreage figure appears in any of the twenty-three sections of N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-35 through 1-45.1. The statutory constraint is the known and visible lines and boundaries requirement, which is about identifying the ground rather than limiting its area.
Claims against the State
Not flatly barred. The State will not sue a possessor who has held adversely for thirty years under known and visible lines or boundaries, or under color of title for twenty-one years, and thirty years of such possession gives a title in fee (N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-35), confirmed by section 1-37.
Land that can never be claimed
State property subject to public trust rights, including navigation, swimming, hunting, fishing and beach access (N.C. Gen. Stat. 1-45.1); any public road, street, lane, alley, square or public way (section 1-45); and railroad, plank road, turnpike and canal rights-of-way (section 1-44).
Cotenants
Possession by one cotenant is not adverse until an actual or constructive ouster, which a tenant in common claiming adverse possession must prove by clear and convincing evidence (N.C. Gen. Stat. 41-89, enacted 2024).
Perfecting title
A boundary special proceeding in the superior court of the county, begun by sworn petition before the clerk with a court-ordered survey and appeal for jury trial de novo (N.C. Gen. Stat. 38-1, 38-2 and 38-3), or an action to determine adverse claims under section 41-10, with section 41-10.1 covering a competing State claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
Other North Carolina guides
Asset Protection Planning in North Carolina (2026)
Dealing With Debt Collectors in North Carolina (2026)
Expunging a Criminal Record in North Carolina (2026)
Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in North Carolina
Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in North Carolina (2026)
Firing an Employee in North Carolina (2026)
Ready to Draft Your Document?
Get AI-powered legal documents with attorney review included. Plans start at $39.99/mo.
Get Started