How long is squatters' rights in Tennessee?
Twenty years of possession gives a squatter title even with no paper at all. Seven years is enough with a recorded claim of title, and seven years can also bar the owner's lawsuit for the land actually possessed. Since July 2024, a Tennessee owner can also ask the sheriff to remove squatters from a home.
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
- 7 or 20 years
- What's different here
- 20 years gives title, 7 with a recorded claim, and sheriff removal since 2024
- Statute
- Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 28-2-101 to 28-2-103, 29-18-135
Someone living in your home in Tennessee? 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.
Tennessee has a common-law route and statutory ones, and the state Supreme Court has laid them out. At common law, twenty years of exclusive, actual, adverse, continuous, open and notorious possession vests title in the possessor, with no color of title needed. The statutes are shorter. Tenn. Code Ann. section 28-2-101 needs seven years under a recorded claim of title. Section 28-2-102 gives a defense after seven years under assurance of title, for the whole boundary it describes. Section 28-2-103 gives a defense after seven years without color of title, but only for the land actually possessed. The last two only bar the owner's suit. They do not hand over title.
Courts hold the squatter to a high standard. The claimant carries the burden by clear and convincing evidence, and the owner must have known of the possession or the possession must have been so open that knowledge is presumed. Possession that is not adverse to the owner does not count.
Removal changed in 2024. Public Chapter 1009 (Senate Bill 795, with House Bill 1259), in force since July 1, 2024, created Tenn. Code Ann. section 29-18-135. An owner or authorized agent submits a verified Complaint to Remove Persons Unlawfully Occupying Residential Real Property, under penalty of perjury, to the sheriff of the county. The sheriff verifies ownership, then without delay serves a notice to immediately vacate, by hand or by posting it on the door, and puts the owner in possession. The sheriff may arrest anyone found there for trespass and will stand by while the owner changes the locks and moves belongings to the property line, at the owner's cost.
Where Tennessee sits against the rest of the United States, in years
Of 50 places in the United States on these pages, 5 have a shorter clock and 33 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 7 or 20 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 Tennessee?
Tennessee's adverse possession rules are Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 28-2-101 to 28-2-103 and the common law: 20 years for title, 7 with a recorded claim of title. What is different here: since July 1, 2024, § 29-18-135 lets an owner ask the sheriff to remove squatters from a home. Squatting is trespassing, and outside that process an owner does not change the locks or cut the utilities to force someone out.
How long is squatters' rights in Tennessee?
Twenty years of exclusive, actual, adverse, continuous, open and notorious possession vests title at common law, with no deed needed. With a recorded claim of title, seven years is enough (§§ 28-2-101 and 28-2-102). Without one, seven years bars the owner's suit for the land actually possessed (§ 28-2-103).
What applies to an ordinary squatter with no deed in Tennessee?
Twenty years for title, proved by clear and convincing evidence. After seven years, § 28-2-103 can block the owner's lawsuit for the land the squatter actually occupied, but it is a defense and does not give title.
What is Tennessee's squatter removal law, section 29-18-135?
Public Chapter 1009 (2024) lets the owner or agent file a verified complaint with the sheriff, who verifies ownership, serves a notice to vacate and puts the owner in possession. The occupant must have entered unlawfully and been told to leave, the property must not have been open to the public, and the occupant must not be a current or former tenant, a spouse, parent, sibling or child, or in a pending lawsuit with the owner. A person removed wrongly can recover possession, damages, three times the fair market rent and attorney fees.
Can a Tennessee owner remove a squatter without a court order?
Yes, in the case section 29-18-135 covers: the sheriff acts on a verified complaint and no judge rules first. Outside it, no. 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 Tennessee?
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
- Arizona
- 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
- 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.