How long is squatters' rights in Arizona?
Ten years for a squatter with no deed, five for a possessor with recorded deeds and paid property taxes. In May 2026 Arizona also added a faster court route: a judgment against an unauthorized occupant now brings a writ of restitution immediately.
If someone is living in your home now, the clock matters far less than getting them out lawfully, and that is where we can help.
- Statutory period
- 5 or 10 years
- What's different here
- 10 years bare, 5 with recorded deeds and taxes, and a faster eviction route since 2026
- Statute
- A.R.S. §§ 12-525, 12-526, 12-1173
Someone living in your home in Arizona? Dardaris helps you get them out.
Changing the locks or cutting the power turns the law against you. We hand it to people who remove squatters lawfully, for a living.
If they are moving in right now, call the police first. Once they have settled in, it takes a formal process, and that is where we come in.
Your contact at Dardaris
Dardaris is not a law firm and removes nobody itself. If you hire the specialist we introduce, they pay us a referral fee, and you deal with them under their own terms. We pass your details on only once you agree.
- Tell us what is happening, by email or on a call. Talking to us costs nothing.
- We put you in touch with a removal specialist who works through the court and the sheriff, never around them.
- Once the home is free, Dardaris manages the letting for you.
Arizona's two periods sit in A.R.S. sections 12-526 and 12-525. Section 12-526 gives ten years to a possessor in peaceable and adverse possession who cultivates, uses and enjoys the land, and it caps the claim at 160 acres. Section 12-525 shortens the period to five years for a possessor who also claims under recorded deeds and pays the property taxes. A squatter with no deed and no tax payments is on the ten-year track.
In 2026 Arizona changed how an owner gets an unauthorized occupant out. Senate Bill 1426 (Laws 2026, chapter 69), signed on May 29, 2026 and in force since September 2026, amended A.R.S. section 12-1173, the forcible detainer statute. It adds a ground for an owner or authorized agent when an unauthorized person occupies a residential dwelling, was told to leave and refuses. The occupant must not be a current or former tenant, must have no earlier verbal or written agreement to live there and must not be the owner's immediate family. The property must not have been open to the public, and no litigation may be pending between the two.
This is still a court route, not a sheriff route. The owner files a forcible detainer action, and the Arizona Supreme Court must adopt rules for resolving these claims expeditiously. What changed is the end of the case: once the court signs a judgment against the unauthorized person, a writ of restitution issues immediately. Tenant rights under Arizona landlord and tenant law are left as they were.
Where Arizona sits against the rest of the United States, in years
Of 50 places in the United States on these pages, 1 have a shorter clock and 45 a longer one or none at all.
From the day someone moves in to the day a claim is possible
The same three stages in most places. The exact rule, and whether the last stage exists at all, is on each place's own page.
- Day oneMoving inCaught in the act, it is usually a matter for the police: a trespass, not a tenancy.
- Weeks to yearsSettled inOnce someone lives there, removing them usually takes a court order, the same route as for a tenant.
- After 5 or 10 yearsA claim becomes possibleOnly if every test held, without a break, for the whole period. Where the law allows no such claim, this stage never comes.
Not yours to do, once they have moved inChanging the locks, cutting the water or power, or removing belongings yourself. It is illegal in every US state and most places on these pages forbid it too. Each page says how removal works there.
The record a court asks for, kept as you go
Wherever your property stands, removing an occupant usually comes down to showing who had the right to be there, and since when. Dardaris files every lease, message and document for a building by date, so that record already exists on the day you need it.
- Every lease, with who signed it and when
- Every message with a tenant, on the thread it was sent in
- Every document, filed against the building it concerns
Frequently asked questions
What are the squatting laws in Arizona?
Arizona's adverse possession statutes are A.R.S. §§ 12-525 and 12-526: 10 years, or 5 with recorded deeds and paid taxes. What is different here: a 2026 law, SB 1426, adds a faster forcible detainer route for unauthorized occupants of a home. Squatting is trespassing, and an owner does not change the locks or cut the utilities to force someone out.
How long is squatters' rights in Arizona?
Ten years of peaceable, adverse possession, with the claimant cultivating, using and enjoying the land, under A.R.S. § 12-526. Five years if the possessor also claims under recorded deeds and pays the property taxes, under § 12-525.
What applies to an ordinary squatter with no deed in Arizona?
Ten years under § 12-526, with the claim capped at 160 acres. The five-year route needs recorded deeds and paid property taxes, which a squatter with no paper does not have.
What did Arizona SB 1426 change in 2026?
It amended A.R.S. § 12-1173 so an owner or authorized agent can bring a forcible detainer action against an unauthorized occupant of a residential dwelling who was told to leave, and a writ of restitution issues immediately after judgment. It was signed May 29, 2026 (Laws 2026, chapter 69). It does not cover tenants, former tenants, immediate family or anyone with a prior agreement to live there.
Can an Arizona owner remove a squatter without a court order?
No. SB 1426 speeds up the court case but still requires one. Changing the locks or cutting the utilities on someone who has settled in is not the lawful route. If you catch someone while they are still moving in, call the police.
Can someone help me get squatters out of my home in Arizona?
Yes. Removal specialists do it through the court and the sheriff. Changing the locks or cutting the power would put you in the wrong. Dardaris can put you in touch with one, and once the home is free, manage the letting for you.
Elsewhere in the United States
The same question, on a different clock. Every place sets its own period and its own shortcuts.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- See every place
This is general information, not legal advice.Laws change, and a county or a city can add its own wrinkle on top of the state rule, the way New York City does. Confirm the current rule for your address before acting on it, and talk to a local attorney before relying on any of it in a real dispute.