Legal Definitions - bona fide possession

Bona fide possession means having or holding property in one's power and exercising control over it. It is the right to use and benefit from a material object exclusively. It is the detention or use of a physical thing with the intent to hold it as one's own. Bona fide possession is possession of property by a person who in good faith does not know that the property's ownership is disputed.

For example, if someone buys a car from a dealer in good faith, not knowing that the car was stolen, they have bona fide possession of the car. They have the right to use and benefit from the car exclusively until they find out that the car was stolen.

Bona fide possession is different from adverse possession, which is the possession of property that belongs to someone else, without their permission, for a certain period of time. Adverse possession can lead to ownership of the property, while bona fide possession does not.