Adverse Possession Flashcards
Adverse Possession
- Statute of Limitations in ejectment cut off the true owner’s right to recover possession in her land
- Once the statute of limitation runs, the true owner loses title to the property
- The issue is whether the person on the true owner’s land is either in trespass or obrained title by adverse possession
Six Requirements for Adverse Possession
H-E-L-U-V-A
- Hostile
- Exclusive
- Lasting
- Uninterupted
- Visible; and
- Actual
Hostile Requirement for Adverse Possession
X is on the land with no right to be there
Exclusive Requirement for Adverse Possession
X must be excluding others from use of the property
Lasting Requirement for Adverse Possession
- must last for statutory period
- common law period is 20 years
Uninterupted Requirement for Adverse Possession
The kind of cuntinuous uninterupted use that an ordinary owner of the property would use
Visible Requirement for Adverse Possession
Use of the possession is out in the open - “Open and Notirious”
Actual Requirement for Adverse Possession
The adverse possessor must actually possess the land to obtain title - subject to 2 exceptions
The 2 exceptions to actual possession element of adverse possession
- Doctrine of Constructive Adverse Possession
- Leased Land
Doctrine of Constructive Adverse Possession Exception to actual possession for adverse possession
Expands the adverse possessors right to the land to the full extent of the title, subject to 2 limitations
- the amount of land possessed must be reasonably related to the whole
- the property must be unitary - a seemless whole
Leased Land Exception to Actual Possession for Adverse Possession
Leasing land to a 3rd party constitutes possession for purposes of establishing adverse possession
Adverse Possession Against Concurrent Owners
- No adverse possession against the co-tenant unless the co-tenant in possession excludes the other from possession and the statutory period runs
- The exclusion begins the clock to run
Adverse Possession for Life Tenent and Remaindermen
The clock does not begin to run against the holder of a future interest until the interest becomes possessory
Adverse Possession to Fee Simple Determinable and the Possibility of Reverter
The happening of the condition begins the clock running
Adverse Possession: Fee Simple on Condition Subsequent and the Right of ReEntry
Clock doesn’t run till grantor decides to exercise his right to re-entry