Bava Batra 29 – The Length of Residence for Presumptive Ownership (Civil)

Presumptive ownership of houses, ditches, and bathhouses - or any other property that yields benefits continually - is established after three years of uncontested occupancy from day to day. For other properties, it depends on their everyday use; for example, presumptive ownership for a field is established after harvesting three crops.

Why three years? For three years after purchasing a property, a person is careful with his deed but longer than that, he is only careful to keep his deed if his property occupancy has been challenged. Therefore, after three years of the unchallenged use of a property, we do not insist that the occupant produce documentary proof of his ownership; instead, we rely on his very occupancy as proof.

Art: Reception Room of a Manor House by Grigori Vasilievich Soroka