No entry upon real estate is deemed sufficient or valid as a claim, unless an action be commenced thereupon within one year after making such entry, and within five years from the time when the right to make it descended or accrued.
§ 320.Entry Upon Real Estate Deemed Sufficient Or Valid As Claim
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 320 treats an entry upon real estate as a valid claim only if the person commences an action within one year of making the entry, and within five years from when the right to make that entry accrued.
Full Text of § 320
Plain-English Summary
Section 320 addresses a person's physical entry onto real estate as a way of asserting a claim to it. That entry counts as sufficient or valid only if followed by a lawsuit, commenced within one year of the entry itself, and also within five years of when the right to enter first arose.
Both clocks run at once, and both must be satisfied. An entry made late in the five-year period leaves less than a full year to file suit, since the five-year outer limit still applies regardless of when the entry occurred.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does physically entering onto disputed land preserve my claim to it?
Only if Section 320's deadlines are met: a lawsuit commenced within one year of the entry, and within five years of when the right to enter accrued.
What if I enter the land four years after my right to enter arose?
Section 320 still requires the action within one year of the entry, but the outer five-year limit from when the right accrued also applies, leaving less than a year in that example.
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: entry upon real estate california statute of limitations