The people of this State will not sue any person for or in respect to any real property, or the issues or profits thereof, by reason of the right or title of the people to the same, unless: 1. Such right or title shall have accrued within ten years before any action or other proceeding for the same is commenced; or, 2. The people, or those from whom they claim, shall have received the rents and profits of such real property, or of some part thereof, within the space of ten years.
§ 315.State Suing Person
Title 2. Of the Time of Commencing Civil Actions · Chapter 2. The Time of Commencing Actions for the Recovery of Real Property · Enacted 1872 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 315 gives the People of California itself only ten years to sue over real property based on the state's own right or title, unless the state or its predecessors received the property's rents or profits within that same ten-year window.
Full Text of § 315
Plain-English Summary
Section 315 limits the state's own power to sue over real property. If the state's right or title to land has not accrued within the past ten years, and neither the state nor those from whom it claims received rent or profit from the property within that same ten years, the People will not bring an action over it.
This section matters beyond the state's own litigation, because § 316 ties private patentees' and grantees' rights to the same ten-year measure: a person claiming under a state patent or grant cannot sue on real property unless the state itself could have sued under this section had the patent or grant never issued.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the State of California have to sue over real property based on its own title?
Section 315 limits that right to ten years from when the state's right or title accrued, unless the state received rents or profits from the property within that same period.
Does this section limit private lawsuits over real property?
Not directly. Section 315 addresses actions by the People of California. But § 316 ties a private patentee's or grantee's rights to this same ten-year rule.
Amendment History
Enacted 1872.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: state statute of limitations real property californiawhen can california sue over land