Teson v. Vasquez
Court
of Appeals of
561
S.W.2d 119.
Johnson,
pp. 44-55
Facts: Teson and others filed
petitions to quiet title to certain tracts of land they had occupied that
previously had appeared to belong to Vasquez.
Issue: Which parcels have been
taken away from the defendants by adverse possession?
Rule: The person claiming adverse
possession must prove the following elements by the preponderance of the
evidence: (1) actual possession, (2) hostile possession, (3) open and notorious
possession, (4) exclusive possession, and (5) continuous possession over the
course of the statutory period.
Analysis: The court goes through the
steps for each claimant against the defendant, and find that some of the claims
of adverse possession are valid, while others fail. (It’s really complicated!!!)
Teson’s
claim to land near the river
Teson
could not claim color of title to this land because it wasn’t specifically
mentioned in the 1925 deed. Thus, he
would have to prove that he continuously occupied the entire tract for ten
years. He failed to prove that he had continuously and actually occupied any particular part of this land. His possession was too sporadic, and also
wasn’t open and notorious. This land is
awarded to the defendant, reversing the trial court.
Teson’s
claim to land between the creek and the pond
Teson
gets this land because there was sufficient evidence that he had farmed the
land continuously for more than the statutory period. The land was in plain sight of the road, so his
possession was indeed open and notorious.
Teson’s
claim to land between the pond and the land near the river
The
defendant gets this land because Teson’s color of title claim is no good. Thus, since Teson didn’t have actual
possession of the land, he doesn’t get it.
Sommers’s
claim to land between the creek and the river
Sommers
has color of title because he has a deed from the Littles from 1952. This deed said that the land was bounded by
the river with all accretions. Sommers put
up fences all the way to the river and built a barn. The testimony is in dispute as to whether
Sommers’s possession was continuous, but since there is no question of law, the
appellate court defers to the judgment of the trial court.
Keeven
and Behle’s claim to land between the creek and the river
Keevan
and Behle had color of title and satisfied the statutory period by tacking
their possession to the
Conclusion: The trial court is affirmed
in part and reversed in part. Keeven and
Behle and Sommers win outright. Klaus
loses entirely. Teson only gets the land
between the creek and the pond.
Notes
and Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. (1) If O was 10 years old
when P took possession, then the action is not barred, assuming O is now old
enough to sue. O actually can sue up to
the age of 24, and O would appear to be 20 now.
(2) Now it would appear that O is 25, and thus it would depend on
whether the three extra years start when O is 21 or whether they add on to the
original 7 years. If the former is true,
the suit is barred because it has been over 7 years since P took possession and
it has also been more than 3 years since O turned 21. If the latter is true, O may get in just under
the wire if it’s still “within” the ten year period. (3) This one depends on whether O is mentally
ill now. If O just got better from being
mentally ill, then O has three years to sue.
If O is still mentally ill, it would appear that he has three years from
when he gets better in which to sue.
6. The first thing to do is add
up all the times. 5 + 3 + 2 + 5 + 3 + 1
+ 2 weeks + 2 months + 3 months + more than 3 = more than 22 years, 5 months,
and two weeks. So if everybody can tack
onto everybody else, there may be a
case for adverse possession. It would
seem like O owns Blackacre either way, though, because either O never lost
possession or D got it by adverse possession and gave it back to O. Maybe that’s the trick to the question. So either O owns it or the chain got broken
somewhere along the way. Given how
ridiculously complicated the problem is, it’s probably a trick question. So there you go.