Quiet title and adverse possession for Michigan homeowners
I am Mitchell Bisson, a Grand Rapids real estate lawyer. I have litigated for over 15 years. Questions about who owns a piece of land tend to surface when a sale stalls, a neighbor uses part of a lot, or an old deed does not match what is on the ground. This page covers quiet title actions and adverse possession for Michigan homeowners, including who can file, who has to be named, and what must be shown. I handle these matters on the homeowner side. The short answers below come from my Michigan legal library.
In Kent County, these disputes usually start with a document or a tape measure. A survey ordered for a sale or refinance shows a fence, driveway, garage or garden sitting past the recorded line. A neighbor, a relative or a former co-owner starts treating part of a lot as theirs. Or a title search turns up a gap in an old chain of deeds or a legal description that does not match what is on the ground. Each asks who holds title to this land, and whether that can be proved with deeds, a survey and witnesses. The lawsuit that answers it is a quiet title action under MCL 600.2932(1), filed in circuit court. Adverse possession is one way to establish or defeat a claim in that action, and it runs on the 15-year period in MCL 600.5801(4).
Adverse possession is harder to prove than most people expect. The claimant needs clear and cogent proof, which the Court of Appeals has described as more than a preponderance of the evidence, approaching the level of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Walters v. Snyder, 225 Mich. App. 219, 223 (1997). The Michigan Supreme Court lists what that proof must show: possession that is actual, continuous, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile and uninterrupted for the relevant statutory period. Marlette Auto Wash, LLC v. Van Dyke SC Properties, LLC, 501 Mich. 192, 202 (2018). Even a proven claim does not produce a recorded deed by itself. The Supreme Court has said that title acquired by adverse possession is neither record title nor marketable title until the adverse possessor files a lawsuit and obtains a judicial decree. Beach v. Lima Township, 489 Mich. 99, 107 (2011).
Not every boundary fight is an adverse possession fight. When neighbors treat a line as the boundary for 15 years, the doctrine of acquiescence can fix that line without any showing of hostility, and the standard is a preponderance of the evidence. Killips v. Mannisto, 244 Mich. App. 256, 260 (2001). I handle these matters for homeowners, whether you are the owner whose title is being challenged or the homeowner who has used the ground for years and needs it confirmed. Nothing here predicts how your case will end, and I do not promise outcomes. I do promise to tell you where you stand.
Michigan quiet title and adverse possession claims, time limits and key rules
These are the rules in the statutes, the court rule and the case law. How they apply to your land depends on the deeds, the survey and the proof of how the ground was used.
| Claim or issue | What must be shown | Time limit or key rule | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quiet title action | The plaintiff claims a right, title, equitable title, interest or right to possession of the land, the defendant claims or might claim an inconsistent interest, and the plaintiff makes a prima facie case of title | Filed in circuit court; equitable in nature. Where the gravamen of the claim is to quiet title, the 15-year period of MCL 600.5801(4) applies | MCL 600.2932(1), (5); Special Property VI LLC v. Woodruff, 273 Mich. App. 586, 590 (2007); Adams v. Adams, 276 Mich. App. 704, 710, 718 (2007) |
| Adverse possession | Clear and cogent proof of possession that is actual, continuous, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile and uninterrupted for the statutory period | 15 years; the owner’s claim to recover the land accrues at disseisin | MCL 600.5801(4); MCL 600.5829(1); Marlette, 501 Mich. 192, 202 (2018) |
| Shorter periods for some deeds | The person in possession claims title through a fiduciary, court-ordered or mortgage foreclosure sale deed, a tax sale deed, or a will | 5 years for the sale deeds in subsection (1); 10 years for the tax sale deeds in subsection (2); 15 years after probate for a devise in subsection (3) | MCL 600.5801(1)-(3) |
| Acquiescence to a boundary | The neighbors treated a line as the boundary for the statutory period, whether or not there was a bona fide dispute. Hostility is not required | 15 years; preponderance of the evidence; three recognized theories | Killips, 244 Mich. App. 256, 260 (2001); Sackett v. Atyeo, 217 Mich. App. 676, 681 (1996) |
| Adding a predecessor’s time (tacking) | For adverse possession, privity between the owners, shown by the conveyance instruments or statements at the time of conveyance. For acquiescence, privity is not required | Without privity, time held by different people does not add up to 15 years for adverse possession | Siegel v. Renkiewicz Estate, 373 Mich. 421, 425-426 (1964) |
| Land held by government | A claim against a municipality, political subdivision or county road commission cannot rest on adverse possession, acquiescence for the statutory period or a prescriptive easement | No limitation periods or laches against these bodies in an action involving recovery or possession of land; an action to recover land to which the state is a party is also not subject to them | MCL 600.5821(1)-(2) |
The 15 years is a limitations period. Section 5801 says no person may bring or maintain an action to recover or possess land unless it is brought within the prescribed period after the claim first accrued, and MCL 600.5829(1) says the claim accrues when a person is disseised. Disseisin occurs when the true owner is deprived of possession or displaced by someone exercising the powers and privileges of ownership. Wengel v. Wengel, 270 Mich. App. 86, 92 (2006).
What each side has to prove
The plaintiff in a quiet title case goes first. A plaintiff has the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of title. Special Property VI, 273 Mich. App. 586, 590 (2007). MCR 3.411(B) requires the complaint to describe the land with reasonable certainty, state the interest each side claims and plead the facts establishing the superiority of the plaintiff’s claim. Under MCR 3.411(C), the plaintiff attaches a statement of the title it relies on, showing from whom the title was obtained and the page and book where it appears of record, and the defendant does the same with its answer. Written evidence of title that is not referred to in the pleadings may not be introduced at trial.
Adverse possession needs every element for the full period. The claimant must prove all of the elements listed above, for 15 years, by clear and cogent evidence. The start date and the nature of the use are where these cases turn, so I build the timeline from dated photographs, receipts and the people who were there.
Hostile does not mean angry. The Court of Appeals has called “hostile” a term of art that does not imply ill will. Hostile use is use that is inconsistent with the owner’s rights, without permission asked or given, and that would entitle the owner to sue the intruder. Wengel, 270 Mich. App. 86, 92 (2006). In a Grand Rapids case, the Court of Appeals held that a party seeking to prove hostility need only show an intent to hold to a visible, preexisting and recognizable boundary, and that failing to show what she believed about the true line did not doom the claim. Houston v. Mint Group, LLC, 335 Mich. App. 545 (2021).
Permission can end the claim. In West Michigan Dock & Market Corp. v. Lakeland Investments, the Court of Appeals held that mutual use of property with the owner’s permission is not enough for adverse possession, and that use with the owner’s permission of property acknowledged to belong to the owner could not support adverse possession, a prescriptive easement or acquiescence. 210 Mich. App. 505, 511-512 (1995). If a neighbor told you to go ahead and use the strip, that conversation matters.
A previous owner’s time may or may not count. For adverse possession, periods of possession by different people can be combined only if privity between them is established, by including the claimed property in the conveyance instruments or by statements at the time of conveyance. For acquiescence, privity is not required. Siegel, 373 Mich. 421, 425-426 (1964); see also Marlette, 501 Mich. at 203. That is why I read every deed in the chain and ask what the seller said about the strip at closing.
Co-owners and family land are harder. In Wengel, the Court of Appeals recognized a presumption that a tenant in possession honors the rights of cotenants, unless acts or declarations clearly establish the contrary and give the cotenants unambiguous notice that they are being displaced. To claim against a cotenant, the occupant must intend to possess the premises to the exclusion of the cotenant, and the cotenant must have knowledge or notice of that intent as clearly evidenced by acts or declarations. 270 Mich. App. 86, 97, 106 (2006).
Acquiescence has three versions. The Court of Appeals has identified acquiescence for the statutory period, acquiescence following a dispute and agreement, and acquiescence arising from an intention to deed to a marked boundary. Sackett, 217 Mich. App. 676, 681 (1996). Under the statutory-period version, the line can become the boundary whether or not there was ever a bona fide controversy about it. Acquiescence can be the simpler claim to prove, because it asks how the neighbors treated the line, not whether anyone was hostile.
Defenses and answers I look at in a quiet title or adverse possession case
Whether I am preparing the complaint or the answer, these are the questions I start with.
The clock. When was the owner disseised, and did the use stay the same for the full 15 years? A claim that falls short of the period fails. If the person in possession claims through one of the deeds listed in MCL 600.5801(1)-(3), a shorter period may apply, so I check how each party got title.
Permission. Did the owner ever say yes, in person, in a text or in a letter? I look for it in the parties’ own messages before I look anywhere else.
Missing parties. A quiet title judgment determines only the rights of the parties and those claiming through them by title accruing after the action begins, so a lender, prior owner, heir or other claimant who is left out is not bound. In Richards v. Tibaldi, grantees under a quitclaim deed taken as security for a debt, who acquired their interest before the earlier quiet title suit and its notice of lis pendens were filed and were never made parties, were not bound by the default judgment in that suit. 272 Mich. App. 522, 535-536 (2007). I name every person who claims or might claim an interest, as MCL 600.2932(1) allows.
Government land. If the land is claimed by a municipality, a political subdivision or a county road commission, including a road, street, alley, easement or other public ground, adverse possession, acquiescence for the statutory period and prescriptive easement claims are not available against it. MCL 600.5821(2). That does not close every door. In Lanny L. Scoby Trust v. Mitchell, No. 364152 (Mich. Ct. App. Jan. 25, 2024) (published), a quiet title case over an unimproved road, the Court of Appeals reversed a summary disposition for a county road commission and agreed that the statute does not bar a claim of common-law abandonment. Read the opinion.
Record title. A title search showing an unbroken chain for 40 years helps, but MCL 565.101 says a person is not considered to have marketable record title under the act if the land is in the hostile possession of another. The act also does not bar or extinguish an easement whose existence is clearly observable. MCL 565.104(1)(c). The Legislature amended the act in 2025 (2025 PA 13, effective Sept. 29, 2025), so I read the current text, including the notice-of-claim provisions in MCL 565.103, and not an older summary.
Remedies and consequences in a quiet title case
The judgment. If the plaintiff establishes title, the defendant is ordered to release all claims to the land, and in an appropriate case the court may issue a writ of possession or restitution. MCL 600.2932(3). After the evidence is taken, the court makes findings determining the disputed rights in and title to the premises. MCR 3.411(D)(1).
Payment for the use of the land. Within 28 days after the finding of title, the party found to have title may file a claim against the party who withheld possession for the reasonable value of the use of the premises, beginning 6 years before the action was commenced. The court values the use in the condition the land was in when the withholding party first went into possession, and it may not count buildings or improvements that party added. MCR 3.411(E).
Payment for improvements. The claim can run the other way. Within 28 days after the finding of title, a party may claim against the party found to have title for the amount by which the present value of the premises was increased by buildings or improvements the claimant made, unless they were made in bad faith. The party in title may elect to abandon the premises to the claimant and take a judgment for the unimproved value, or keep the land and pay for the improvements. MCR 3.411(F)-(G). A neighbor who built a garage over the line may therefore have a money claim even if the land stays with you.
Protecting the land while the case is pending. To make a filed complaint constructive notice to a purchaser, the plaintiff files a notice of the pendency of the action with the register of deeds. If the notice is filed with the complaint, the summons must be served within 60 days after the filing, or publication must begin or service be made outside the state within that time. MCL 600.2701(1)-(2). The notice is the tool that matters when the other side might sell the land while the case is pending.
Why a proven claim still needs a court decree before a sale
Until the adverse possessor obtains a judicial decree, there is no record of the possessor’s ownership. Beach, 489 Mich. 99, 107 (2011); Marlette, 501 Mich. at 210. A lender or title company sees a recorded owner on paper and a different person in possession on the ground. The neighbors can sign a boundary agreement and record deeds that match it, or one of them can bring a quiet title action and obtain a decree. Which one fits depends on the evidence, the date of the sale and how the neighbor is likely to respond.
Recent Michigan decisions I watch in these cases
Houston v. Mint Group (Mich. Ct. App. 2021), published. Neighbors in Grand Rapids disputed a strip of about 120 square feet between a retaining wall and the legal boundary line. The case was in Kent Circuit Court. The Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling that the homeowner took title by adverse possession and held that she also took title by acquiescence. 335 Mich. App. 545 (2021).
Scoby Trust v. Mitchell (Mich. Ct. App. 2024), published. The Court of Appeals held that MCL 600.5821 does not bar a claim that a county road commission abandoned an unimproved road at common law, and it reversed summary disposition for the road commission. It matters to a homeowner whose lot touches an old road or unimproved right-of-way.
Cheshure v. Marrero (Mich. Ct. App. Feb. 13, 2026), unpublished. In an Oakland County neighbor dispute, the Court of Appeals vacated an adverse possession ruling and sent the case back. The trial court had focused on when the true owner became hostile toward the possessor, but the question is whether the possessor’s use was hostile to the true owner, and the court had to decide when a fence was built because that date could start the 15 years. Cheshure v. Marrero, unpublished per curiam opinion of the Court of Appeals, issued February 13, 2026 (Docket No. 370662). An unpublished opinion is not precedentially binding under MCR 7.215(C)(1). I cite it only to show how courts apply the published rules.
How I handle a quiet title or adverse possession case
- Pull the deed history and fix the dates. I start with your deed, the title policy, any survey and the recorded documents behind them. I ask when each fence, wall, driveway, shed or planting went in, who put it there, and what anyone said about it.
- Identify everyone with an interest. I list prior owners, lenders, heirs, co-owners and anyone else who claims or might claim an interest in the land, because the judgment only reaches the parties.
- Try to settle it on paper first. If the neighbor is reasonable, a signed boundary agreement and recorded deeds can resolve the problem faster and for less than a lawsuit.
- File and record the notice. I draft the complaint to meet MCR 3.411(B) and (C), attach the statement of title, and decide with you whether to record a notice of pendency under MCL 600.2701.
- Build the proof. I collect dated photographs, aerial images, receipts, tax and survey records, and statements from long-time neighbors and prior owners.
- Motions, mediation and trial. Some cases can be decided on motion under MCR 2.116 once the facts are on paper, and the court may order case evaluation or mediation under MCR 2.403, 2.410 or 2.411. If the case does not settle, I am prepared to try it.
- Judgment and recording. I check that the legal description in the judgment matches the survey and the deeds and that the judgment is recorded, so it shows up in the next title search.
Ways a quiet title or boundary dispute may end without a trial
Whether any of these is available depends on the facts, the documents and the other side. None is automatic.
Boundary agreement and deeds. The owners agree where the line is, and recorded deeds put that line in the title records. The agreement should describe the land precisely and address fences and structures already there.
Consent judgment. The parties can ask the court to enter a judgment quieting title on terms they have agreed to, which puts the result in a form the title company can read.
Summary disposition. If the documents answer the question, for example because the chain of title is clear or the claimant’s own testimony shows permission, a judge can decide it on motion under MCR 2.116.
What I need from you
Bring your deed, your title insurance policy and any survey, along with the closing documents from when you bought. Bring photographs of the disputed ground, dated if you can, and anything that shows when a fence, wall, driveway, shed, garden or tree went in. Bring receipts for fencing, landscaping or maintenance, and every letter, email or text with the neighbor about the land. Write down the names of people who know the history, and anything anyone said about permission or about where the line is. Do not move, remove or build over a fence or marker, do not cut down trees on the strip, and do not tell the neighbor they may keep using the land until we have talked. Do not sign or record anything about the boundary, and do not post about the dispute online.
Where your Kent County quiet title case will be heard
I represent clients in Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Grandville, Wyoming and across Kent County. A quiet title action under MCL 600.2932(1) is brought in the circuit court, which in Kent County is the 17th Judicial Circuit. Under MCL 600.8301(1), the district court has exclusive jurisdiction in civil actions when the amount in controversy does not exceed $25,000. Kent County district courts include the 61st District Court in Grand Rapids, the 59th in Walker and Grandville, the 62A in Wyoming, the 62B in Kentwood and the 63rd for Rockford, Lowell, Cedar Springs, East Grand Rapids and the surrounding townships. I look at where your land is and what is being claimed before I tell you where a case belongs.
Why people hire me for a Michigan quiet title matter
You work directly with me, the lawyer handling your case. I give you the strengths and weaknesses of the case straight, including what it could cost you and what it could protect. I build the case the facts support, and then we decide together how to proceed.
Fees depend on the type of case, its complexity and whether it is likely to go to trial. I explain my fee arrangement at the consultation, before you decide whether to hire me.
Questions I hear from people with a quiet title or adverse possession dispute in Michigan
What is a quiet title action in Michigan and who can file one?
A quiet title action is a circuit court lawsuit that decides who owns land or holds an interest in it. Under MCL 600.2932(1), anyone who claims a right, title, equitable title, interest, or right to possession of land can sue a person who claims an inconsistent interest. If the plaintiff proves title, the court orders the defendant to release the competing claims.
What do I have to include in a Michigan quiet title complaint?
Under MCR 3.411(B), the complaint must describe the land with reasonable certainty, allege the interest you claim, allege the interest the defendant claims, and plead the facts showing your claim is superior. Under MCR 3.411(C), you must also attach a statement of the title you rely on, showing from whom it came and where it is recorded.
Who do I have to name as defendants in a Michigan quiet title case, and who is bound by the judgment?
Name every person who claims or might claim an interest inconsistent with yours (MCL 600.2932(1)). Under MCR 3.411(H), the judgment determines only the rights of the known and unknown persons who are parties and of people claiming through them by title that accrues after the action begins. A prior owner, lender, or other claimant you leave out is generally not cut off.
In a quiet title case, who has to prove ownership?
The plaintiff does. The Court of Appeals stated in Special Property VI v Woodruff that a plaintiff in a quiet title action has the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of title, and that summary disposition for the defendant is proper if the plaintiff cannot carry it. Admissible evidence of the chain of title is the starting point.
What is adverse possession in Michigan and how long does it take?
Adverse possession lets a person who openly uses another’s land as their own for 15 years become its legal owner. Michigan requires clear and cogent proof that the possession was actual, visible, open, notorious, exclusive, continuous, and uninterrupted for 15 years, and hostile and under a claim of right. The 15 years comes from MCL 600.5801(4).
A neighbor let me use part of their land for years. Can that time count toward adverse possession?
Generally not. Hostile possession in Michigan means use inconsistent with the owner’s rights, without permission asked or given, though it does not require ill will. In West Michigan Dock, the Court of Appeals held that a party who used a boat slip with the owner’s permission, knowing it belonged to the owner, could not acquire rights in it by adverse possession, prescriptive easement, or acquiescence.
What standard of proof applies to adverse possession compared with acquiescence?
Adverse possession and prescriptive easement claims require clear and cogent proof, which is a heightened standard. A boundary acquiescence claim is proved by a preponderance of the evidence, which is the ordinary civil standard. The Court of Appeals stated the preponderance standard for acquiescence in Killips v Mannisto, and the Supreme Court restated the clear and cogent standard in Marlette Auto Wash.
My title search shows 40 years of unbroken record title. Does that protect me against someone who has been using part of my land?
Not necessarily. MCL 565.101 gives marketable record title after an unbroken chain of record title for 40 years (20 for mineral interests), but it says a person is not considered to have marketable record title under the act if the land is in the hostile possession of another. MCL 565.104(1)(c) also says the act must not be applied to bar a clearly observable easement.
Related Michigan pages
- Grand Rapids Real Estate Attorney
- Deeds and title defects
- Grand Rapids Boundary and Easement Dispute Lawyer
- Grand Rapids Partition Lawyer
- Neighbor disputes
- Grand Rapids civil litigation attorney
I handle quiet title and adverse possession matters for Michigan homeowners. Contact me 24/7 by phone or email. Your Rights, My Fight! Call for a free initial consultation.
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Law Offices of Mitchell S. Bisson, 2828 Kraft Ave SE, Suite 295, Grand Rapids, MI 49512, serving Kent County and West Michigan.
This page provides general information about Michigan law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change and every case turns on its own facts. Consult a licensed attorney about your specific situation.