Tennessee Squatters Rights and Adverse Possession

Tennessee's adverse possession statutes appear in Tenn. Code 28-2-101 through 28-2-103 (Title 28 limitations, separate from the URLTA landlord-tenant chapter). Under 28-2-101, a person with "seven (7) years' adverse possession" who holds "by conveyance, devise, grant, or other assurance of title, purporting to convey an estate in fee" gains indefeasible title, but only if that assurance is "recorded in the register's office" for the full seven years. Without color of title the period is longer: while 28-2-103 bars actions to recover land not brought within seven years, Tennessee courts require 20 years of open, continuous, exclusive, and hostile possession to extinguish a record owner's title where no color of title exists. A squatter lacking these elements acquires nothing and is removed by detainer.

No specific statutory penalty; a squatter without valid color of title or the full possession period acquires no ownership and can be removed through a detainer/ejectment action, while a property owner's failure to act for the statutory term can extinguish their title.