16 Powell on Real Property § 91.01

Summary

• [1] The English Origins of American Statutes of Limitations

  Every American jurisdiction has one or more statutes of limitations that fix the period of time beyond which the owner of land can no longer bring an action, or undertake self-help, for the recovery of land from another person in possession. These statutes of limitations differ substantially in the duration of the established periods, in provisions for extending the normally operative period, and in other particulars (see § 91.10). These statutes are complemented and amplified by a large body of case law that elaborates on the kind of possession by another that is sufficient to cause the statutory period to begin to run, and to continue running, against the true owner. Thus, the law of adverse possession is a synthesis of statutory and decisional law.1