Maine Adverse Possession / Squatters' Rights (Tit. 14 §§ 801, 810-A)

Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14 § 801 sets the limitations period: "No person shall commence any real or mixed action for the recovery of lands, or make an entry thereon, unless within 20 years after the right to do so first accrued." Because the owner's right to eject is barred after 20 years, possession that is open, notorious, exclusive, continuous, and hostile for that full 20-year period can ripen into title. Section 810-A adds that "if a person takes possession of land by mistake as to the location of the true boundary line, the possessor's mistaken belief does not defeat a claim of adverse possession," addressing boundary-line disputes. Maine's remaining adverse-possession elements come from case law rather than a single statute.

No specific statutory penalty; this is a civil limitations and quiet-title matter resolved between the owner and the possessor in court (tit. 14 §§ 801, 810-A).