European property law
Squatters' rights in Romania: when uzucapiune applies, and how occupants are evicted
Ten years of possession, but only against land whose registered owner has died or ceased to exist, has renounced it, or that was never entered in a land book. A squatter on a living owner's registered property has no route to ownership.
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- Statutory period
- 5 or 10 years
- What's different here
- a living, registered owner's land cannot be taken this way
- Statute
- Codul civil, art. 930 and art. 931
Romania's Civil Code of 2011 ties uzucapiune to the land book. Article 930 allows a possessor to be registered as owner after ten years of possession only if the registered owner has died or ceased to exist, a renunciation of ownership was registered, or the property was not registered in any land book. Article 931 protects someone registered as owner in good faith without a valid basis once they have possessed for five years after registration. For possession that began before the code took effect on 1 October 2011, the old code's rules, with their longer periods, still apply.
Occupying, wholly or partly and without right, a property in another person's possession by violence, threats or by moving boundary markers is the offence of disturbing possession under art. 256 of the Criminal Code, punished by one to five years in prison or a fine, on the victim's prior complaint. Entering someone's home without consent is a separate offence under art. 224.
The Code of Civil Procedure has a special eviction procedure for property used or occupied without right (arts. 1033 to 1048). The owner serves notice through a court bailiff, an occupant without right gets five days to leave, and the court hears the case urgently. Romanian courts have held that an owner who forces their way into a home occupied even without title can commit violation of domicile, so eviction goes through this procedure rather than self-help.
Where Romania sits against the rest of Europe, in years
Of 31 places in Europe on these pages, 0 have a shorter clock and 28 a longer one or none at all.
How it unfolds
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.
Before it is ever a court case
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
How long is adverse possession in Romania?
Ten years under art. 930 of the Civil Code, where the registered owner has died or ceased to exist, renounced ownership, or the land was never registered. Five years under art. 931 for someone registered as owner in good faith without a valid basis.
Can a squatter take a property from a living owner in Romania?
Not by uzucapiune under the current code. Article 930 only works against an owner who has died or ceased to exist, who renounced ownership, or against land never registered in a land book.
Is squatting a crime in Romania?
Occupying another person's property without right by violence, threats or by moving boundary markers is an offence under art. 256 of the Criminal Code, prosecuted on the victim's complaint. Entering a home without the occupant's consent falls under art. 224.
How do I evict an occupant without right in Romania?
Through the special eviction procedure in arts. 1033 to 1048 of the Code of Civil Procedure: notice served by a court bailiff, five days for an occupant without right, then an urgent court hearing. Self-help removal is not part of it.
Elsewhere in Europe
The same question, on a different clock. Every place sets its own period and its own shortcuts.
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.
Know who is actually in your property, before it becomes a court case.
Hand over one building and see every lease checked against what is actually happening on the ground.
14 days before the first charge · Nothing is switched on until you say so