Kansas Adverse Possession (Squatters)

K.S.A. 60-503 provides that "no action shall be maintained against any person for the recovery of real property who has been in open, exclusive and continuous possession of such real property, either under a claim knowingly adverse or under a belief of ownership, for a period of fifteen (15) years." All three elements (open, exclusive, continuous) must coexist for the full 15 years. Because a tenant occupies with the owner's permission, that possession is not adverse, so renters and holdover tenants cannot ripen into owners. A landlord facing a true trespasser-squatter pursues removal through ejectment or the eviction process rather than waiting out any short statutory clock.

No specific statutory penalty. A successful adverse-possession claimant after 15 years bars the owner's recovery action and may quiet title; short of that, the occupant is a trespasser removable by ejectment or eviction.