To say ownerIt doesn’t matter whether you have used someone else’s property in good or bad faith for 30 years, as long as you did so in full view of the public. The Court of Cassation, which had ruled to the contrary in February, finally reaffirmed this principle, in a decision handed down on October 24, 2024.

The law allows you to claim ownership of real estate that you have used for 30 years in a peaceful, public, unequivocal manner and as owner. This is a frequent occurrence, as the courts are often seized with disputes concerning this possibility.

The Société industrielle et agricole mantaise claimed recognition of its ownership of rural plots that it had used for over 30 years in full view of everyone, to the point where the whole neighborhood believed it to be the owner. But the mayor protested. This neighbor knows perfectly well that he wasn’t,” she said, “since he once wrote to the real owners offering to buy.

Bad faith is no obstacle

But “the awareness of not being an owner has no bearing on the assessment of his intention to behave as such“ruled the Cour de cassation. In other words, bad faith is not an obstacle. As a result, the mayor’s case was dismissed and he was ordered to pay 3,000 euros to Société industrielle et agricole mantaise.

This was an unexpected decision, as it was the opposite of the one handed down by the Cour de cassation eight months earlier. Last February, it had ruled that to appropriate someone else’s land by prescription, using it in full view of the public for thirty years, it was not necessary to show bad faith. It is not possible to claim ownership when you have twice offered to buy,” she ruled at the time, “because by doing so, you are admitting that you know you are not the owner. This case law has now been abandoned.