A squatter cannot gain title quickly in New Jersey. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-30, thirty years of actual, continuous possession of real estate vests title in the possessor, and sixty years is required for woodlands or uncultivated tracts. The possession must be open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, and uninterrupted, and time can be tacked across successive occupiers.
New Jersey's adverse-possession period is among the nation's longest. N.J.S.A. 2A:14-30 provides that thirty years' actual possession of any real estate, excepting woodlands or uncultivated tracts, and sixty years' actual possession of woodlands or uncultivated tracts, "uninterruptedly continued by occupancy, descent, conveyance or otherwise," vests a full and complete title in the possessor and bars the prior owner's claim. A related limitations statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:14-31, bars recovery of real estate after 60 years regardless. Courts require the possession to be actual, open and notorious, exclusive, continuous, and hostile for the full term; a predecessor's qualifying possession may be "tacked" to a successor's to total the years.
No specific statutory penalty. A squatter without the full statutory period has no possessory right and is a trespasser subject to ejectment; a record owner who proves up adverse possession under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-30 may quiet title against competing claims.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Edison, NJ
Edison requires every swimming pool to be enclosed by a fence at least 4 feet high with a self-closing, self-latching, lockable gate. Woven-mesh openings may...
Edison, NJ
Chapter 37 prohibits any fence made of materials dangerous to persons or animals - barbed wire, electrified wire, and razor wire are not permitted in residen...
Edison, NJ
Edison's Chapter 37 requires fences to be built entirely on the owner's property - no joint or boundary-straddling fences are authorized in code. Boundary an...
Edison, NJ
A zoning permit from the Edison Zoning Officer is required for any fence under Chapter 37. The application must include a current survey or plot plan showing...
Edison, NJ
Edison's Chapter 37 (Zoning) caps residential fences at 4 ft in the front yard and 6 ft overall. Up to 8 ft is allowed along a rear lot line bordering a non-...
Edison, NJ
Edison Township does not publish a specific numerical household pet limit in its general Code. Multi-animal keeping is governed instead by the general sanita...
See how Edison's squatter's rights & adverse possession rules stack up against other locations.
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