Adverse possession

Key Takeaways

• Adverse possession in Washington requires ten years of possession that is exclusive, actual and uninterrupted, open and notorious, and hostile.
• Hostile does not mean angry. It means the possessor holds the land as an owner would rather than by the record owner's permission, so written permission defeats the claim.
• A shorter seven-year route exists under RCW 7.28.070 for a possessor holding under claim and color of title made in good faith who also pays all taxes legally assessed during those seven years.
• Adverse possession is a form of involuntary alienation, which means title moves without the record owner's consent, the same way it does in foreclosure, eminent domain, and escheat.

What It Means

Adverse possession is the rule that lets a person who has used land like an owner for long enough end up owning it, even though the deed still names someone else. Washington courts state the test in one line: adverse possession requires ten years of possession that is exclusive, actual and uninterrupted, open and notorious, and hostile. Hostile carries no anger in it. It means the possessor holds the ground as an owner would, not by the true owner's permission, so a tenant or a neighbor with a license never ripens into an owner.

The doctrine sits on the involuntary side of transfer, next to Foreclosure, Eminent Domain, and Escheat, because title changes hands without the record owner agreeing to it. In daily practice it shows up in boundary fights far more than in land grabs. A fence set a few feet off the true line, a driveway that clips the neighbor's corner, or a lawn mowed past the property pin for a decade are the ordinary fact patterns. All four elements have to exist together for the whole statutory period, and the claimant proves them in a quiet title action.

How It Works in Washington

Washington sets the clock in RCW 4.16.020, which bars an action for the recovery of real property "unless it appears that the plaintiff, his or her ancestor, predecessor or grantor was seized or possessed of the premises in question within ten years before the commencement of the action." Ten years of qualifying possession therefore ends the record owner's ability to sue the possessor off the land, and title vests in the adverse possessor once every element has run for the full period.

A second and shorter route sits in RCW 7.28.070. Every person in actual, open and notorious possession under claim and color of title made in good faith, who continues in possession for seven successive years and during that time pays all taxes legally assessed on the land, is held to be the legal owner to the extent of the paper title. RCW 7.28.083 then lets the court order the prevailing adverse possessor to reimburse the record owner for taxes or assessments levied during the possession, and allows costs and reasonable attorneys' fees where the court finds an award equitable and just. One boundary matters on the exam and in the field: RCW 7.28.090 says these provisions do not apply to lands owned by the United States or this state, to school lands, or to lands held for any public purpose, so a city park strip or a state right of way cannot be taken this way.

Example

Ruth Alvarez bought a house on Cedar Street in Spokane in 2014. A cedar fence ran along what she took to be the side line, and every year since she has mowed inside it, planted along it, and parked a boat on the strip. In 2026 her neighbor Dale Whitcomb puts his lot on the market. The buyer's Survey shows the true line is six feet on Ruth's side of the fence, so a strip six feet by 120 feet, about 720 square feet, is on Dale's paper title.

Ruth has held that strip openly, exclusively, without permission, and without interruption since 2014, which is more than the ten years RCW 4.16.020 gives Dale to sue within. She files a quiet title action and takes the 720 square feet. Dale's remedy expired years before the sale. Had he handed Ruth a signed letter in 2019 allowing her to use the strip, her possession would have become permissive, the hostility element would have failed, and the ten-year clock would never have finished running.

Common Mistakes and Exam Traps

• Hostile does not mean hostile feelings toward the owner. It means possessing as an owner rather than with the owner's permission, which is why a written permission letter defeats an adverse possession claim.
• The seven-year period is not the general Washington rule. It applies only under RCW 7.28.070, where the possessor holds under claim and color of title made in good faith and pays all taxes legally assessed for those seven years.
• Adverse possession and a prescriptive easement produce different results. Adverse possession transfers ownership of the land itself, while a prescriptive easement gives only a right to keep using land someone else still owns.
• Adverse possession cannot be run against public land. RCW 7.28.090 excludes land owned by the United States or Washington, school lands, and lands held for any public purpose.