How do I stop my neighbor from establishing adverse possession?
Full Question:
Answer:
In order for our neighbor to claim ownership over any property of yours or the city, he must prove certain elements.
According to the law in Washington, the following are the elements that must be met to have a successful claim of adverse possession:
1. Exclusive use. Only the claimant, or people authorized by him, can have possession of the land in question for the required period of possession (which is 10 years). Courts have ruled that the possession does not have to be absolutely exclusive, so he will want to discuss the particular situation with an attorney (see below).
2. Actual and uninterrupted. That means that he actually have possession and control over the land in question, and that possession is not interrupted by an adversary.
3. Open and notorious. An adversary must be aware that his land is being taken. But the claimant doesn't have to write the landowner, or anything like that. His possession must be in a manner that is overt, not covert.
4. Hostile. That means that he treats the land in question as his own, and defend it against the world. Adverse possession is not created when he has the permission of the landowner to use his land (so a long-term tenant cannot claim adverse possession).
(Chaplin v. Sanders , 100 Wn.2d 853 , 857, 676 P.2d 431 (1984))
A claimant must meet all four of these elements to qualify for adverse possession. He has the burden of proving he met each element. He must have met these elements for a minimum of 10 years.
Alternatively, if he has held a property for seven years under a "good faith color of title" and have continuously paid all taxes on that property for seven years, he need only prove actual, open and notorious possession to establish adverse possession. See RCW 7.28.070 .
It may be beneficial also to determine if any part of the land in question is owned by the city or is an easement granted to the city. If so, the city may interested in what is happening on that piece of land.
A quiet title or trespass to try title action is the method of determining title to lands. In a quiet title action, it is possible to ask the court to issue an injunction to force another to do or refrain from doing an act. An injunction is an equitable remedy that the court may order when money damages will be inadequate to remedy the harm suffered.
The following are WA statutes:
RCW 7.28.050 That all actions brought for the recovery of any lands,
tenements or....
That all actions brought for the recovery of any lands, tenements or
hereditaments of which any person may be possessed by actual, open and
notorious possession for seven successive years, having a connected title
in law or equity deducible of record from this state or the United
States, or from any public officer, or other person authorized by the
laws of this state to sell such land for the nonpayment of taxes, or from
any sheriff, marshal or other person authorized to sell such land on
execution or under any order, judgment or decree of any court of record,
shall be brought within seven years next after possession being taken as
aforesaid, but when the possessor shall acquire title after taking such
possession, the limitation shall begin to run from the time of acquiring
title.
RCW 7.28.070 Every person in actual, open and notorious possession of lands
or....
Every person in actual, open and notorious possession of lands or
tenements under claim and color of title, made in good faith, and who shall
for seven successive years continue in possession, and shall also during
said time pay all taxes legally assessed on such lands or tenements, shall
be held and adjudged to be the legal owner of said lands or tenements, to
the extent and according to the purport of his or her paper title. All
persons holding under such possession, by purchase, devise or descent,
before said seven years shall have expired, and who shall continue such
possession and continue to pay the taxes as aforesaid, so as to complete
the possession and payment of taxes for the term aforesaid, shall be
entitled to the benefit of this section.
RCW 7.28.080 Every person having color of title made in good faith to
vacant and....
Every person having color of title made in good faith to vacant and
unoccupied land, who shall pay all taxes legally assessed thereon for seven
successive years, he or she shall be deemed and adjudged to be the legal
owner of said vacant and unoccupied land to the extent and according to the
purport of his or her paper title. All persons holding under such taxpayer,
by purchase, devise or descent, before said seven years shall have expired,
and who shall continue to pay the taxes as aforesaid, so as to complete the
payment of said taxes for the term aforesaid, shall be entitled to the
benefit of this section: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, If any person having a better
paper title to said vacant and unoccupied land shall, during the said term
of seven years, pay the taxes as assessed on said land for any one or more
years of said term of seven years, then and in that case such taxpayer, his
heirs or assigns, shall not be entitled to the benefit of this section.
RCW 7.28.070 Every person in actual, open and notorious possession of lands
or....
Every person in actual, open and notorious possession of lands or
tenements under claim and color of title, made in good faith, and who shall
for seven successive years continue in possession, and shall also during
said time pay all taxes legally assessed on such lands or tenements, shall
be held and adjudged to be the legal owner of said lands or tenements, to
the extent and according to the purport of his or her paper title. All
persons holding under such possession, by purchase, devise or descent,
before said seven years shall have expired, and who shall continue such
possession and continue to pay the taxes as aforesaid, so as to complete
the possession and payment of taxes for the term aforesaid, shall be
entitled to the benefit of this section.
RCW 7.28.085 (1) In any action seeking to establish an adverse claimant as
the legal....
(1) In any action seeking to establish an adverse claimant as the legal
owner of a fee or other interest in forest land based on a claim of adverse
possession, and in any defense to an action brought by the holder of record
title for recovery of title to or possession of a fee or other interest in
forest land where such defense is based on a claim of adverse possession,
the adverse claimant shall not be deemed to have established open and
notorious possession of the forest lands at issue unless, as a minimum
requirement, the adverse claimant establishes by clear and convincing
evidence that the adverse claimant has made or erected substantial
improvements, which improvements have remained entirely or partially on
such lands for at least ten years. If the interests of justice so require,
the making, erecting, and continuous presence of substantial improvements
on the lands at issue, in the absence of additional acts by the adverse
claimant, may be found insufficient to establish open and notorious
possession.
(2) This section shall not apply to any adverse claimant who establishes
by clear and convincing evidence that the adverse claimant occupied the
lands at issue and made continuous use thereof for at least ten years in
good faith reliance on location stakes or other boundary markers set by a
registered land surveyor purporting to establish the boundaries of property
to which the adverse claimant has record title.
(3) For purposes of this section:
(a) "Adverse claimant" means any person, other than the holder of record
title, occupying the lands at issue together with any prior occupants of
the land in privity with such person by purchase, devise, or decent
[descent];
(b) "Claim of adverse possession" does not include a claim asserted under
RCW 7.28.050, 7.28.070, or 7.28.080;
(c) "Forest land" has the meaning given in [*] RCW 84.33.100; and
(d) "Substantial improvement" means a permanent or semipermanent
structure or enclosure for which the costs of construction exceeded fifty
thousand dollars.
(4) This section shall not apply to any adverse claimant who, before June
11, 1998, acquired title to the lands in question by adverse possession
under the law then in effect.
(5) This section shall not apply to any adverse claimant who seeks to
assert a claim or defense of adverse possession in an action against any
person who, at the time such action is commenced, owns less than twenty
acres of forest land in the state of Washington.