Oregon Squatters Rights and Adverse Possession Laws (2026)

Oregon imposes a 10-year adverse possession period and a unique honest-belief-of-ownership requirement under Or. Rev. Stat. § 105.620. Property owners who discover an unauthorized occupant remove that person through a forcible entry and detainer (FED) action filed under ORS 105.105-105.168. Since January 1, 2026, an owner dealing with a true squatter can serve a 24-hour written notice under ORS 91.140 and then file that FED action, while an occupant who holds under a rental agreement must instead be terminated under the ORS Chapter 90 eviction procedures.

Information last verified on May 27, 2026. This article provides general legal information, not legal advice.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers Oregon state law only. For a comparison of all 50 states, see the national squatters rights guide.

Adverse Possession in Oregon: Period, Honest Belief, and Elements

The 10-Year Requirement

Oregon sets the adverse possession period at 10 years. That clock starts when the claimant first takes possession and runs continuously until the full decade is complete. Under ORS 105.620, the claimant and any predecessors in interest must maintain actual, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, and continuous possession for the entire period. Each element must be proven by clear and convincing evidence, the highest civil standard short of criminal proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

• Actual possession means physical occupation: living on the land, farming it, building on it, or exercising the kind of control a true owner would exercise.
• Open and notorious possession means the occupation is visible and obvious to anyone who inspects the property, putting the record owner on notice that someone else is asserting a claim.
• Exclusive possession means the claimant does not share control with the general public or with anyone who is not in privity with the claimant.
• Hostile possession means the occupation is without the owner's permission and is inconsistent with the owner's rights. Note that grazing livestock on the land, standing alone, is not sufficient to satisfy the possession elements under Oregon case law.
• Continuous possession means the claimant maintained possession without abandonment for all 10 years. A claimant may add ("tack") the possession periods of prior owners who were in privity, such as a predecessor who sold or conveyed to the claimant.

Oregon's Honest-Belief Requirement

Oregon's 1989 legislative revision to ORS 105.620 added a requirement that distinguishes Oregon from most other states. At the time of initial entry, the claimant must have held an honest belief that they were the actual owner of the property. That belief must satisfy three conditions:

1. The honest belief must have continued throughout the entire 10-year vesting period.
2. The belief must have had an objective foundation, not just a private feeling of ownership.
3. The belief must have been reasonable under the circumstances.

This means a person who knowingly occupies someone else's land and hopes to acquire title through long possession cannot succeed under Oregon law. The claimant must have started occupying the property under a genuine, objectively reasonable mistake about ownership, for example, a surveying error that placed a boundary in the wrong location, or a defective deed that the claimant reasonably believed conveyed good title.

This honest-belief element is sometimes called a "good faith" requirement in legal commentary, but Oregon courts focus on the three-part statutory test: continuity of belief, objective foundation, and overall reasonableness.

No Tax-Payment Requirement

Unlike some states such as California, Oregon does not require an adverse possession claimant to pay property taxes on the disputed parcel. Payment of taxes may serve as supporting evidence of open and notorious possession, but it is not a separate statutory element under ORS 105.620.

No Shortened Period for Color-of-Title Claimants

Several states allow a shorter adverse possession period for claimants who hold color of title, a written instrument that purports to convey ownership but is legally defective. Oregon defines color of title in ORS 105.620 as a claim under a written conveyance or by operation of law from one claiming under a written conveyance. However, the statute does not reduce the 10-year period for color-of-title claimants. The same 10-year requirement applies regardless of whether the claimant holds color of title or relies solely on open possession.

Acquiring Title

A successful adverse possession claimant does not automatically receive a deed. The claimant must bring a quiet title action in circuit court to obtain a judgment that legally transfers title. The judgment is then recorded with the county clerk to provide constructive notice to the public.

How to Remove a Squatter in Oregon

Step 1: Confirm There Is No Tenancy

Before filing any court action, confirm that the occupant has no rental agreement, oral or written, and has not paid rent that you accepted. If a tenancy exists, even an informal month-to-month arrangement, Oregon's residential landlord-tenant law under ORS Chapter 90 controls, and you must provide the appropriate written notice to terminate (ORS 90.392 for cause; ORS 90.394 for nonpayment of rent) before seeking a FED judgment. Accepting rent from an unauthorized occupant can inadvertently create a tenancy.

If there is no tenancy, ORS Chapter 90 is not the route. ORS 90.110(5) excludes occupancy by a squatter from that chapter, so the ORS 90.392 and 90.394 notices do not apply to a true squatter and the 24-hour notice under ORS 91.140 is the correct first step instead.

Step 2: Do Not Use Self-Help

Oregon law prohibits self-help eviction. Under ORS 105.105, no person may enter real property except as allowed by law, and any legal entry must be peaceful. Changing locks, removing belongings, shutting off utilities, or threatening the occupant to force them out without a court order exposes the property owner to civil liability. All removal of unauthorized occupants must proceed through the courts.

Step 3: File a Forcible Entry and Detainer (FED) Action

The primary legal tool for removing a squatter in Oregon is a forcible entry and detainer (FED) action filed under ORS 105.110 in the circuit court of the county where the property is located. The court also has jurisdiction in justice court for some matters. The action is legal, not equitable, the court decides who has the right to immediate possession, not the ultimate question of ownership. Key points:

• The person entitled to the premises files the complaint.
• For non-dwelling property, the owner serves a notice to quit under ORS 105.120 before filing (except for certain recreational vehicle situations).
• For residential property governed by ORS Chapter 90, the owner must serve the appropriate written termination notice before the occupant can be found to be unlawfully holding over.
• For a true squatter, serve the 24-hour written notice under ORS 91.140 before filing. ORS 105.115(1)(h) then makes the squatter's continued possession after that notice expires a statutory cause of unlawful holding by force.
• Every complaint must satisfy the general sufficiency requirements of ORS 105.123. The complaint form itself comes from ORS 105.124 when ORS Chapter 90 applies to the premises, or ORS 105.126 when it does not. The ORS 105.126 form carries a 24-hour notice for squatter checkbox citing ORS 91.140, which is the box an owner removing a squatter marks.

A 2003 Oregon Court of Appeals decision, Bunch v. Pearson, held that absent evidence of forcible entry, a court could not award possession in a FED action unless a landlord-tenant relationship existed, and that an FED action is not a substitute for trespass or ejectment. That gap has since been closed for squatters. ORS 105.115(1)(h), effective January 1, 2026, makes a squatter's holdover after an ORS 91.140 notice its own statutory cause of unlawful holding by force, so an owner no longer needs a tenancy or a forcible entry to use the FED route against a squatter. ORS 105.130(6) applies the procedure and fees used for ORS Chapter 90 dwelling cases to those actions, with the complaint on the ORS 105.126 form.

Step 4: Obtain and Enforce the Judgment

If the court rules in the owner's favor, it enters a judgment of restitution. After the judgment, the owner follows the enforcement procedures under ORS 105.151-105.161, which include:

• Serving the occupant with a notice of restitution (ORS 105.152 or 105.153 depending on the type of case).
• Requesting a writ of execution for judgment of restitution (ORS 105.156 and 105.159).
• Having the county sheriff serve and enforce the writ of execution and physically remove the occupant (ORS 105.161).

The sheriff, not the property owner, carries out the actual removal. After the occupant is removed, the owner regains lawful possession and may change the locks.

Oregon's 24-Hour Squatter Notice (ORS 91.140)

Several states passed expedited squatter-removal statutes in 2024 and 2025, and Oregon joined them. House Bill 3522, enacted as 2025 Oregon Laws chapter 356 and effective January 1, 2026, created ORS 91.140. Under that section, an owner or landlord may take possession of premises from a squatter under ORS 105.100 to 105.168 after giving the person 24 hours' written notice of the termination of the occupancy. The notice must specify the date and time by which the person must vacate and must state that the cause of the termination is the person's status as a squatter, and it does not create a right of occupancy or tenancy.

The same Act defined squatter at ORS 90.100(47) as a person occupying a dwelling unit, or occupying other property and using it for dwelling purposes, who is not entitled to do so under a rental agreement and is not authorized by the tenant to occupy it. A tenant holding over as described in ORS 90.427(11) is excluded from that definition, so a former tenant who stays past the end of a tenancy is not a squatter and is still handled under ORS Chapter 90.

Oregon's route is expedited but still judicial. The 24-hour notice does not let a sheriff or police officer remove an occupant without a court order, unlike the administrative removal statutes some other states adopted. It shortens the notice period to 24 hours and gives the owner a dedicated statutory ground under ORS 105.115(1)(h), after which the owner still files the FED action and the sheriff enforces the judgment.

Legal disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Oregon squatters rights and adverse possession law. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Oregon property law can be complex, and individual situations vary. Consult a licensed Oregon real estate attorney before taking action to remove an unauthorized occupant or to assert an adverse possession claim.

For a comparison of adverse possession and squatter removal laws across all 50 states, visit the national squatters rights guide.

Published by RecordingLaw.com. Last reviewed May 27, 2026.

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