REAL PROPERTY--ADVERSE POSSESSION--WHAT CONSTITUTES ADVERSE POSSESSION OF LAND USED PERIODICALLY

Authors

George D. Miller Jr., University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Plaintiff in an ejectment action claimed under a chain of title tracing back to a government patent. Defendants asserted title in themselves by adverse possession. The land in question was wild, undeveloped, and not suitable for farming, but was desirable for hunting and fishing, for which purpose the defendants had used the premises every year since their entry. In 1926 some of the defendants built a cabin on the land, and replaced it in 1932 by the present one, which they built on a cement foundation, painted, and planted grass around. They also erected a sign at the crossroads bearing the name of the camp. In 1928 they bought the tax title for the 1924 taxes, and in 1929 followed the statutory procedure for service of notice to redeem. Defendants paid the taxes on the land for every year from 1924 to 1949, except for 1945. In 1939, defendants sold the pulpwood on the land, and the loggers occupied cabins visible from the road during its removal. They also sold a portion of the land to the county road commission, and executed and recorded other conveyances covering the land in question. During the time of defendants' possession, plaintiff and her predecessors did nothing to indicate anything other than an abandonment of their rights in the land. On appeal from a judgment for defendants, held, affirmed. Defendants had acquired title by adverse possession. Monroe v. Rawlings, (Mich. 1951) 49 N.W. (2d) 55.

Recommended Citation

George D. Miller Jr., REAL PROPERTY--ADVERSE POSSESSION--WHAT CONSTITUTES ADVERSE POSSESSION OF LAND USED PERIODICALLY, 50 Mich. L. Rev. 483 (1952).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol50/iss3/18