In AZ it’s called Adverse Possession, and the time period is ten years.
My neighboring property owner had an old survey which erroneously showed my driveway on his lot.
He had never noticed until he was selling the lot.
He checked my property records and found I bought my place 9 years and 10 months prior, so he thought he was in the clear in terms of AP.
What he didn’t know was I leased with an option to buy for several months before buying, so the AP clock started 8 months earlier than he thought.
He got mad and chased off his lawyer.
That was 20 years ago, I still have my driveway.
“In AZ it’s called Adverse Possession, and the time period is ten years.”
While I realize that not everyone here has a background in real estate, I’m still surprised by how few people are familiar with Adverse Possession, as it’s one of the oldest laws in the books. And yes, it most often involves a driveway or a fence that is accidentally (or purposely) located incorrectly, and then stays in place, uncontested, for a certain amount of time. Usually not a big deal, but this article was a bit strange as to how the judge used it.
Went through the same thing with a buddy.
In Michigan you (the owner) must know that the person is making use of the property and do nothing about it for AP to come into play.
Sounds like petty theft to me. Did you at least offer to pay for the land? If so, then at least you sort of tried to do the right thing. If not, your actions are just bad as a pedophiles in my book.