Pennsylvania's general adverse possession period is 21 years under 42 Pa.C.S. Section 5530. A shorter 10-year period applies under 42 Pa.C.S. Section 5527.1 to a parcel of one-half acre or less improved by a single-family dwelling the possessor has occupied, identified as a separate recorded lot.
Under 42 Pa.C.S. Section 5530, "an action for the possession of real property" must be brought within 21 years, so a possessor whose occupation is actual, continuous, exclusive, visible, notorious, distinct, and hostile for 21 years can extinguish the owner's title, "except as provided in section 5527.1." That exception, 42 Pa.C.S. Section 5527.1, allows title "after no less than 10 years" of the same possession for "real estate not exceeding one-half acre in area" improved by a single-family dwelling occupied by the possessor for the full 10 years and identified as a separate recorded lot. Under the 10-year route the record owner has one year, after notice, to file an ejectment action before the court may grant title.
No specific statutory penalty for the occupancy itself. An owner may file an ejectment or quiet-title action; a squatter who has not met the 21-year (or qualifying 10-year) period gains no ownership, and the owner can recover possession.
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See how Lancaster's squatter's rights & adverse possession rules stack up against other locations.
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