---
title: O.C.G.A. § 44-5-161. Adverse possession; effect of permissive possession.
collection: code
id: 44-5-161
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 44-5-161 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/44-5-161
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/44-5-161.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/44-5-161/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t44-ch1-7-(v31)-2010-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=35dd922f_0#page=519
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/44-5.md
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: PROPERTY / ACQUISITION AND LOSS OF PROPERTY / PRESCRIPTION
---

# O.C.G.A. § 44-5-161. Adverse possession; effect of permissive possession.

(a) In order for possession to be the foundation of prescriptive title, it:

(1) Must be in the right of the possessor and not of another;

(2) Must not have originated in fraud except as provided in Code Section 44-5-162;

(3) Must be public, continuous, exclusive, uninterrupted, and peaceable; and

(4) Must be accompanied by a claim of right.

(b) Permissive possession cannot be the foundation of a prescription until an adverse claim and actual notice to the other party.

## History

Ga. L. 1851-52, p. 238, § 2; Code 1863, § 2638; Code 1868, § 2637; Code 1873, § 2679; Code 1882, § 2679; Civil Code 1895, § 3584; Civil Code 1910, § 4164; Code 1933, § 85-402.

## Cross References

Adverse possession against cotenant, § 44-6-123. Obtaining private ways through adverse possession, §§ 44-9-1, 44-9-54, 44-9-55.

## Law Reviews

For annual survey of real property law, see 35 Mercer L. Rev. 257 (1983). For annual survey of zoning and land use law, see 57 Mercer L. Rev. 447 (2005). For survey article on local government law, see 59 Mercer L. Rev. 285 (2007).

For note, ‘‘For Sale — One Level 5 Bar-barian for 94,800 Won: The International Effects of Virtual Property and the Legality of Its Ownership,’’ see 37 Ga. J. Int’l & Comp. L. 381 (2009).