What Is a Claim of Right?
In Florida property law, simply trespassing on someone's land for a long time does not give you ownership of it. If you want to legally steal land using the controversial doctrine of adverse possession, your occupation of the land must meet strict statutory requirements. One of those requirements is that your occupation must be under a claim of right (or "claim of title").
A claim of right means that the trespasser occupies the land with the intent to hold it as their own, actively defending it against the true owner. They are not hiding; they are acting exactly as a true property owner would.
Claim of Right vs. Color of Title
In Florida, adverse possession can be claimed in two distinct ways under Chapter 95 of the Florida Statutes:
- Under Color of Title (Section 95.16) — This happens when the occupier has a physical deed or court document that says they own the land, but the document happens to be legally invalid or forged without their knowledge. Their claim to the land is based on this flawed paperwork.
- Without Color of Title (Section 95.18) — This is where claim of right comes into play. The occupier has no paperwork whatsoever. They simply move onto an abandoned parcel of land, build a fence, and start acting like they own it under a "claim of right."
The Tax Payment Requirement
Because claiming land without paperwork is essentially theft, Florida law makes it extremely difficult to succeed. To successfully execute a claim of right without color of title, the occupier must not only openly possess the land for 7 continuous years, but they must also file a formal adverse possession return with the county appraiser within their first year, and they must pay all property taxes on that land for the entire 7-year period.
Related Terms
- Adverse Possession — The overarching legal mechanism for taking land
- Color of Title — Taking land based on a flawed deed, rather than just occupying it
- Ejectment — The lawsuit the true owner files to stop a claim of right
Barnes Walker Property Litigation
Barnes Walker's real estate litigators aggressively defend Florida landowners against adverse possession attempts, filing immediate ejectment actions to evict squatters attempting to assert a claim of right over our clients' land. Request a legal inquiry for assistance.
Reviewed by the attorneys at Barnes Walker, Goethe, Shea & Robinson, PLLC