Florida · TitleFlorida adverse possession: seven years, the property appraiser return and the tax-roll notation

Florida has two routes to adverse possession, each taking seven years of continued possession. Under color of title, the claim rests on a written conveyance, decree or judgment, and possession that began after 1945 doesn't count until that instrument is recorded with the county clerk (Fla. Stat. §95.16). Without color of title, the possessor must have paid all outstanding taxes and matured special-improvement installments within one year after entering, filed a return with the county property appraiser within 30 days after that, and kept paying the taxes for the remaining years (§95.18(1)). On receiving a return the property appraiser mails a copy to the owner of record, tells the owner that the owner's tax payment made before April 1 after the tax year has priority over the possessor's, and notes on the tax roll and in its public database that an adverse possession claim has been submitted. The notation and the return are removed when the claimant withdraws in writing, the owner produces a later court order establishing title, the claimant deeds the property to the owner, or the owner shows a receipt for paying that year's taxes during the claim period. Occupying a residential structure on such a claim before filing the return is trespass, and leasing it out is theft (§95.18(3)–(10)).