§ 60-503 Adverse possession.

If someone has been openly and continuously living on or using a piece of land for 15 years, the real owner can lose the right to kick them off or take back the property. This can happen in two situations: either the person knew the land wasn't theirs but took it over anyway, or they honestly believed they owned it the whole time.

The key requirements are that the possession must be open (not hidden or secret), exclusive (the person is treating it as their own, not sharing control with others), and continuous for the full 15 years without major gaps. If all these conditions are met, the original owner can't sue to get the land back after that much time has passed.

There's one exception written into this rule. If a lawsuit was filed within one year after this law took effect, that lawsuit can still move forward even if the 15 year period had already passed. This was likely added to give property owners a short grace period to file claims when the law first came into effect, so they weren't immediately barred by the new rule.