In Texas a squatter can claim title only through adverse possession, with periods that shorten as the claim strengthens: 3 years under title or color of title (§ 16.024), 5 years with a registered deed plus paid taxes (§ 16.025), 10 years for bare possession capped at 160 acres (§ 16.026), and 25 years under a recorded instrument (§ 16.028).
Under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.024, an owner must sue within three years against a possessor holding "under title or color of title." Section 16.025 sets a five-year bar where the possessor cultivates, uses, or enjoys the land, "pay[s] applicable taxes," and claims "under a duly registered deed" (excluding quitclaim, forged, or forged-power-of-attorney deeds). Section 16.026 sets a ten-year bar for one who cultivates, uses, or enjoys the property, "limited…to 160 acres" without a recorded instrument fixing larger boundaries. Section 16.028 sets a 25-year bar for a good-faith holder under a recorded instrument purporting to convey the property, which "extends to…all of the property described in the instrument, even though the instrument is void on its face or in fact." Possession must be actual, open, exclusive, hostile, and continuous.
No specific statutory penalty against the owner. A squatter gains title only if every adverse-possession element is met for the applicable 3-, 5-, 10-, or 25-year period; otherwise the occupant has no possessory right and is subject to removal through the eviction or trespass process.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Rosenberg, TX
Rosenberg adopts the 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code by reference and requires a residential building permit for any swimming pool, with city r...
Rosenberg, TX
Rosenberg requires multi-family developments to install eight-foot decorative masonry walls and limits commercial perimeter property line fences to chain lin...
Rosenberg, TX
Rosenberg Sec. 1-481 prohibits fences from being built on or overhanging a property line and lets the city remove dilapidated fences at the owner's expense a...
Rosenberg, TX
Rosenberg requires a residential building permit for any fence over seven feet tall, plus contractor registration; doing fence work without the proper permit...
Rosenberg, TX
Rosenberg does not impose a flat residential fence height cap because it has no traditional zoning, but any fence taller than seven feet requires a residenti...
Rosenberg, TX
Rosenberg requires every property to keep weeds, grass, and brush under twelve inches tall, with limited exemptions for agricultural acreage.
See how Rosenberg's squatter's rights & adverse possession rules stack up against other locations.
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