Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

It will depend on your relationship to the property. Are you living at the property? Are you paying the taxes on it? Are you a tenant? Are you a neighbor?

If you have been living on the property and paying the property taxes for at least five years, you may be able to claim it by adverse possession, assuming that your possession of the property is not based on a lease or other written document where the former owner grants you the right to live on the property.

In order to get a meaningful answer, you need to provide more information.

Real estate cannot be abandoned. There is a California Supreme Court decision saying so. It still belongs to someone. Quieting title to property requires the plaintiff to present affirmative evidence that his title claim is superior to all others. One way is to show that you have satisfied all the requirements of adverse possession, as mentioned in the previous answer. A suit to quiet title will necessitate VERY careful and THOROUGH research into former owners and other claimants and a diligent attempt to serve each of them with the summons and complaint. This aspect alone can be time-consuming and expensive, and may require several trips to court to satisfy the assigned judge that you have made the necessary efforts to root out and serve all possible owners.