51 Bava Basra 3/1-4

(1) The legal period of chazakah [a presumption of ownership, generally regarding landed property, established by unchallenged, publicly known possession for a certain period of time, together with a legally acceptable claim regarding how the property came into the possessor’s hands] for houses, cisterns, trenches, caves, dovecotes, bath-houses, olive-presses, irrigated fields and slaves and anything which continually produces a yield is three complete years . The legal period of possession [in order to establish ownership] for a field irrigated by rain water is three years and they need not be completed. Rabbi Yishmael says: Three months during the first year, and three months during the last year and twelve months during the middle year, which makes eighteen months. Rabbi Akiva says: One month during the first year and one month during the last year and twelve months during the middle year, which makes fourteen months. Rabbi Yishmael said: When does this apply? With regards to a grain field, but when it comes to a field of trees , if he brought in his produce (grapes), harvested the olives and gathered in his fig harvest, this counts as three years.

(2) There are three separate areas of land for the purposes of chazakah; [obtaining land through demonstrating ownership for an extended period of time]: Judea, The Eastern Side of the Jordan and the Galilee. If the owner of a piece of land in the Galilee was currently living in Judea and someone occupied on that person's land in the Galilee, that person would not acquire said land and vice versa. One can only acquire the land if they are living in the same region. Rabbi Yehuda says, the reason it takes three years to acquire land through occupying it is so that if the owner were in Spain the squatter could squat for one year, people traveling to inform the owner would take one year and then one year to return with the owner's objection.

(3) Any [claim of ] chazakah which is not accompanied by a claim [of legal acquisition] is not valid chazakah. How is this so? If he said to him: “What are you doing on my property? And the other answered: “No one ever said anything to me”, this is not chazakah. “You sold it to me”, “You gave it to me as a gift”, “Your father sold it to me”, “Your father gave it to me as a gift”, this is chazakah. One who comes due to inheritance [from the previous owner], does not need to make a claim. Craftsmen, partners, sharecroppers and guardians cannot establish ownership through chazakah. A man cannot establish ownership through chazakah regarding his wife’s property, nor may a wife establish ownership through chazakah regarding her husband’s property, nor a father of his son’s property, nor a son of his father’s property. When is this so? When the person attempts to acquire the land through chazakah. But, when the property was given as a gift, or when brothers shared a piece of their inheritance, or when one claimed title by chazakah of a convert [who died without inheritors], and then he locked up, walled up or broke down anything, behold, this is chazakah.

(4) If there are two witnesses claiming that someone squatted on a piece of land for 3 years and they were found out to be false witnesses, they must pay the full value of the land the owner would have lost. If a 2 witnesses testify about the first year, 2 about the second year and 2 about the third year, then they split the value between them. If the witnesses were 3 brothers [who cannot testify as relatives cannot testify together], and one other witness joined them, they are considered to be 3 separate sets of witnesses but they must all be found to be false witnesses to require them to pay.