Ariz. Rev. Stat. » Title 12
Arizona Revised Statutes

Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-526 (2026)

Real property in adverse possession and use by possessor; ten year limitation; limit of area; fixing of boundaries under duly recorded memorandum of title

✓ current as of May 2026
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A. A person who has a cause of action for recovery of any lands, tenements or hereditaments from a person having peaceable and adverse possession thereof, cultivating, using and enjoying such property, shall commence an action therefor within ten years after the cause of action accrues, and not afterward.

B. The peaceable and adverse possession referred to in subsection A shall not embrace more than one hundred and sixty acres, including the improvements or the number of acres actually enclosed if less than one hundred and sixty acres is so enclosed, but when such adverse possession is taken and held under some written memorandum of title other than a deed which fixes the boundaries of the possessor's claim and is duly recorded, such possession shall be construed to be coextensive with the boundaries specified in such instrument.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 55 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1958–2024 · leading case: Flood Control Dist. v. Gaines, 43 P.3d 196 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2002).
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Flood Control Dist. v. Gaines, 43 P.3d 196 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 7× “") § 29-103 (1939) (now A.R.S. § 12-526) governs the time for commencing an inverse condemnation action.”
Overson v. Cowley, 664 P.2d 210 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1982). · cites it 10× “Before proceeding to the issues presented, however, it will be helpful to briefly review the basic principles relating to adverse possession.”
Berryhill v. Moore, 881 P.2d 1182 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1994). · cites it 5× “As the Ziggy’s court observed in a somewhat different context, “[ujnder AR.S. § 12-526, the statute of limitations can only run against ‘[a] person who has a cause of action for recovery of any land.”
Lewis v. Pleasant Country, Ltd., 840 P.2d 1051 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 4× “Under A.R.S. § 12-526, a person must commence an action for the recovery of property from another having peaceable and adverse possession within ten years after the cause of action accrues.”
Desruisseau v. Isley, 553 P.2d 1242 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1976). · cites it 6× “The ten-year period required by A.R.S. § 12-526 had not run when the complaint was filed.”
Mealey v. Arndt, 76 P.3d 892 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2003). · cites it 2× “A.R.S. § 12-526(A) (2003); Hein, 66 Ariz.”
Tenney v. Luplow, 442 P.2d 107 (Ariz. 1968). · cites it 5× “She claimed it on the ground that she was in actual possession of the realty and had been in actual, exclusive, peaceable and adverse possession continuously for more than ten years and had paid the taxes thereon, and therefore defendant was barred from claiming title pursuant…”
Lowe v. Pima Cnty., 177 P.3d 1214 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 2× “” According to the Lowes, the county never properly accepted the Marks’ dedication and thereafter they adversely possessed the property from the Marks. See A.R.S. § 12-521(A)(1) (“ ‘Adverse possession’ means an actual and visible appropriation of the land, commenced and…”
Jones v. Burk, 795 P.2d 238 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 2× “The evidence shows that Latham lined the entire western edge of the parcel with cement blocks in 1975. When the property was sold in 1980, the southern two-thirds remained lined.”
Leon v. Byus, 565 P.2d 1312 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1977). · cites it 4× “Appellants asserted the statute of limitations under A.R.S. § 12-526 as a defense to the claim as well as laches and filed a counterclaim in adverse possession.”
De Alfy Props. v. Pima Cnty., 985 P.2d 522 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 5× “Appellants filed this action in December 1992, seeking compensation for the loss of southern access to the property.”
Whittemore v. Amator, 713 P.2d 1231 (Ariz. 1986). · cites it 2× “” Peaceable possession must be continuous, but need not be continued in the same person so long as there is privity *175 of estate between successive possessors.”
Show all 55 citing cases →
— Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-526(A) — 21 cases
Flood Control Dist. v. Gaines, 43 P.3d 196 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2002). “") § 29-103 (1939) (now A.R.S. § 12-526) governs the time for commencing an inverse condemnation action.”
Mealey v. Arndt, 76 P.3d 892 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2003). “A.R.S. § 12-526(A) (2003); Hein, 66 Ariz.”
Lowe v. Pima Cnty., 177 P.3d 1214 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2008). “” According to the Lowes, the county never properly accepted the Marks’ dedication and thereafter they adversely possessed the property from the Marks. See A.R.S. § 12-521(A)(1) (“ ‘Adverse possession’ means an actual and visible appropriation of the land, commenced and…”
Whittemore v. Amator, 713 P.2d 1231 (Ariz. 1986). “” Peaceable possession must be continuous, but need not be continued in the same person so long as there is privity *175 of estate between successive possessors.”
Sabino Town & Country Estates Ass'n v. Carr, 920 P.2d 26 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1996).
— Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-526(B) — 1 case
Overson v. Cowley, 664 P.2d 210 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1982). “Before proceeding to the issues presented, however, it will be helpful to briefly review the basic principles relating to adverse possession.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.