Arizona · TitleArizona adverse possession: the two-, three-, five- and ten-year limits

In Arizona, adverse possession is an actual and visible appropriation of land, begun and continued under a claim of right inconsistent with and hostile to another's claim; peaceable possession is continuous possession not interrupted by an action to recover the estate, and successive possessors can add their time together only with privity of estate between them (A.R.S. §12-521). The time an owner has to sue depends on the possessor's claim. Against a party claiming by right of possession only, the action must be brought within two years (§12-522). Against a person in peaceable and adverse possession under title or color of title – a regular chain of transfer, or a consecutive chain with defects such as an unrecorded link, short of dishonesty – it's three years (§12-523). Against a person in peaceable and adverse possession who cultivates, uses or enjoys the property, pays the taxes and claims under a duly recorded deed, it's five years – but not for anyone claiming through a forged deed or a deed under a forged power of attorney (§12-525). Otherwise, against a person in peaceable and adverse possession who cultivates, uses and enjoys the property, it's ten years, and the possession can't cover more than 160 acres (or the area actually enclosed, if less) unless it is held under a duly recorded written memorandum of title that fixes the boundaries (§12-526).