How long is squatters' rights in Wisconsin?
Twenty years for a squatter with no paperwork, under Wisconsin Statutes section 893.25. Ten years if they entered under a recorded deed or judgment, and seven if they also paid every property tax.
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, 10 or 20 years
- What's different here
- 20 years bare, 10 with a recorded deed, 7 with a recorded deed and taxes
- Statute
- Wis. Stat. §§ 893.25, 893.26, 893.27
Someone living in your home in Wisconsin? 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.
Wisconsin runs three tracks. The ordinary one is section 893.25: twenty years of uninterrupted possession under a claim of title, on land that was fenced in or usually cultivated or improved. No written instrument and no tax payment is needed on this track, which is the one a squatter with no deed is on.
The shorter tracks reward paperwork. Section 893.26 cuts the period to ten years for someone who entered in good faith under a written instrument or a court judgment recorded with the register of deeds within thirty days. Section 893.27 cuts it to seven years when, on top of that, every conveyance was recorded and all real estate taxes were paid for the whole period. Both are for a person holding a defective deed, not for someone who simply moved in.
Wisconsin also bars adverse possession against land owned by the state or a local government (section 893.29). And none of these periods helps an owner dealing with an occupant today: self-help removal is prohibited, the owner files an eviction action under chapter 799, and the sheriff carries out the writ of restitution if the court rules for the owner.
Where Wisconsin 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, 10 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 Wisconsin?
Wisconsin's squatter law comes down to Wis. Stat. §§ 893.25 to 893.27: 7, 10 or 20 years of uninterrupted possession before a squatter can claim ownership, depending on paperwork and taxes. What sets Wisconsin apart: three tracks, with the shortest needing a recorded document and every tax paid. Squatting itself is trespassing, and a squatter who has settled in is still removed through the courts, never by changing the locks or cutting the utilities.
How long is squatters' rights in Wisconsin?
Twenty years of uninterrupted adverse possession with no written instrument (§ 893.25), ten years under a recorded written instrument or judgment (§ 893.26), and seven years if the possessor also recorded every conveyance and paid all real estate taxes (§ 893.27).
What applies to an ordinary squatter with no deed in Wisconsin?
The twenty-year track. A squatter with no written instrument cannot use the ten-year or seven-year routes, and must show the land was fenced in or usually cultivated or improved. No tax payment is required on that track.
Can someone claim adverse possession against government land in Wisconsin?
No. Section 893.29 bars an adverse possession claim against land owned by the state or a unit of local government, however long the occupation lasts.
Can a Wisconsin owner remove a squatter without a court order?
No. Self-help is prohibited once someone has settled in. The owner brings an eviction action under chapter 799, and if the owner wins, the court issues a writ of restitution that the sheriff carries out. Call the police only while someone is still in the act of moving in, before they have settled.
Can someone help me get squatters out of my home in Wisconsin?
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
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- 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.