If I paid back taxes on a property how do I obtain the property?

Full question:

I paid the back taxes on a house; is it mine? Can I evict a person after giving a 30 day notice?

• Category: Real Property
• Subcategory: Adverse Possession
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Virginia

Answer:

Adverse possession is a means by which someone may acquire title to the land of another through certain acts over a defined period of time. Such acts must continue uninterrupted for the time period defined by state laws, which vary by state. The time period in Virginia is 15 years. Payment of taxes alone isn't sufficient to claim a property by adverse possession. In general, the acts of possession must be overt, hostile, exclusive, uninterrupted, and under a claim of right, etc., so as to give the owner or others claiming entitlement to possession notice and an opportunity to counter the adverse possession. Payment of real property taxes and making improvements (such as paving or fencing) for the statutory period, which varies by state, are evidence of adverse possession but cannot be used by a person with no claim to title other than possession. Certain public property is not subject to adverse possession. Some states require that the possession be "under color of title," or that the person must believe that he has the right to possess it and has some form of document or is relying on some fact that while not actually conveying title, appears to do so. In addition, many states require concurrent the payment of property taxes for a specified period of time, and a few states also require that improvements be made upon the land. Eventually, the possessor is required to file for title with the county recorder. The actual owner then has a limited amount of time in which to challenge the newcomer's title. Essentially, the owner's only argument is to claim some sort of disability; such as age, mental instability, or imprisonment. The owner is not required to do much in order to stop the possessor from acquiring title; merely sending the possessor a note granting permission to be there will usually suffice. Various rules exist regarding the continuousness of the possession and the ability to "tack" various periods of possession together in order to satisfy the time of possession requirement.

If you are a landlord, it may be possible to evict a tenant who is in default of payments. A 30 day notice may be given to a month-to-month tenant. It may also be possible to recover payments made on the property under an unjust enrichment theory. In order to show unjust enrichment, a party must prove that the defendant had a benefit conferred on them by the plaintiff, that the defendant knew of the benefit, and that acceptance or retention of the benefit by the defendant would be unfair under the
circumstances.

Contracts are agreements that are legally enforceable. A contract is an agreement between two parties that creates an obligation to do or refrain from doing a particular thing. The purpose of a contract is to establish the terms of the agreement by which the parties have fixed their rights and duties. An oral contract is an agreement made with spoken words and either no writing or only partially written. An oral contract may generally be enforced the same as a written agreement. However, it is much more difficult with an oral contract to prove its existence or the terms. Oral contracts also usually have a shorter time period within which a person seeking to enforce their contract right must sue. A written contract generally provides a longer time to sue than for breach of an oral contract. Contracts are mainly governed by state statutory and common (judge-made) law and private law. Private law generally refers to the terms of the agreement between the parties, as parties have freedom to override many state law requirements regarding formalities of contracts. Each state has developed its own common law of contracts, which consists of a body of jurisprudence developed over time by trial and appellate courts on a case-by-case basis.

An unjustifiable failure to perform all or some part of a contractual duty is a breach of contract. A legal action for breach of contract arises when at least one party's performance does not live up to the terms of the contract and causes the other party to suffer economic damage or other types of measurable injury. A lawsuit for breach of contract is a civil action and the remedies awarded are designed to place the injured party in the position they would be in if not for the breach. Remedies for contractual breaches are not designed to punish the breaching party. The five basic remedies for breach of contract include the following: money damages, restitution, rescission, reformation, and specific performance. A money damage award includes a sum of money that is given as compensation for financial losses caused by a breach of contract. Parties injured by a breach are entitled to the benefit of the bargain they entered, or the net gain that would have accrued but for the breach. The type of breach governs the extent of damages that may be recovered.

Restitution is a remedy designed to restore the injured party to the position occupied prior to the formation of the contract. Parties seeking restitution may not request to be compensated for lost profits or other earnings caused by a breach. Instead, restitution aims at returning to the plaintiff any money or property given to the defendant under the contract. Plaintiffs typically seek restitution when contracts they have entered are voided by courts due to a defendant's incompetence or incapacity.

Rescission is the name for the remedy that terminates the contractual duties of both parties, while reformation is the name for the remedy that allows courts to change the substance of a contract to correct inequities that were suffered. In order to have a rescission, both parties to the contract must be placed in the position they occupied before the contract was made. Courts have held that a party may rescind a contract for fraud, incapacity, duress, undue influence, material breach in performance of a promise, or mistake, among other grounds.

Specific performance is an equitable remedy that compels one party to perform, as nearly as practicable, his or her duties specified by the contract. Specific performance is available only when money damages are inadequate to compensate the plaintiff for the breach

Promissory estoppel is a term used in contract law that applies where, although there may not otherwise be an enforceable contract, because one party has relied on the promise of the other, it would be unfair not to enforce the agreement. Promissory estoppel arises from a promise which the promisor should reasonably expect to induce action or forebearance of a definite and substantial character on the part of the promisee and which does induce such action or forebearance in binding if injustice can be avoided only by enforcement of the promise. Detrimental reliance is a term commonly used to force another to perform their obligations under a contract, using the theory of promissory estoppel. Promissory estoppel may apply when a promise was made; reliance on the promise was reasonable or foreseeable; there was actual and reasonable reliance on the promise; the reliance was detrimental; and injustice can only be prevented by enforcing the promise. Detrimental reliance must be shown to involve reliance that is reasonable, which is a determination made on an individual case-by-case basis, taking all factors into consideration. Detrimental means that some type of harm is suffered.

Reasonable reliance is usually referred to as a theory of recovery in contract law. It was what a prudent person might believe and act upon based on something told by another. Sometimes a person acts in reliance on the promise of a profit or other benefit, only to learn that the statements or promises were either incorrect or were exaggerated. The one who acted to their detriment in reasonable reliance may recover damages for the costs of his/her actions or demand performance. Reasonable reliance connotes the use of the standard of ordinary and average person.

The following is a VA statute:

§ 55-222. Notice to terminate a tenancy; on whom served; when necessary. —

A tenancy from year to year may be terminated by either party giving
three months' notice, in writing, prior to the end of any year of the
tenancy, of his intention to terminate the same. A tenancy from month to
month may be terminated by either party giving 30 days' notice in
writing, prior to the next rent due date, of his intention to terminate
the same. In addition to the termination rights set forth above, and
notwithstanding the terms of the lease, the landlord may terminate the
lease due to rehabilitation or a change in the use of all or any part of
a building containing at least four residential units, upon 120 days'
prior written notice to the tenant. Changes shall include but not be
limited to conversion to hotel, motel, apartment hotel or other
commercial use, planned unit development, substantial rehabilitation,
demolition or sale to a contract purchaser requiring an empty building.
This 120-day notice requirement shall not be waived; however, a period of
less than 120 days may be agreed upon by both the landlord and tenant in
a written agreement separate from the rental agreement or lease executed
after such notice is given and applicable only to the 120-day notice
period. When such notice is to the tenant it may be served upon him or
upon anyone holding under him the leased premises, or any part thereof.
When it is by the tenant it may be served upon anyone who, at the time,
owns the premises in whole or in part, or the agent of such owner, or
according to the common law. This section shall not apply when, by
special agreement, no notice is to be given; nor shall notice be necessary
from or to a tenant whose term is to end at a certain time.

The written notice required by this section to terminate a tenancy
shall not be contained in the rental agreement or lease, but shall be a
separate writing.