Division One upheld a summary judgment in favor of the owners of undeveloped property in Skagit County against the adverse possession claim of their neighbors.
The dispute involved the Plaintiffs’ claim that by mowing of a portion of the Defendants’ undeveloped land for a period of more than ten years, they had acquired the property by adverse possession.
The Court relied on the open and notorious element of adverse possession which requires that the true owner have actual notice of the adverse use throughout the statutory period or that the claimant used the disputed property in a manner that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that they owned it.
Merely mowing a portion of undeveloped property is not enough.
The claimants, after the summary judgment, tried to introduce additional evidence of other uses made of disputed property. Too late, said the Court of appeals. They would not consider the additional affidavits.
The unpublished case is Floe v. Fiorito from Division I.
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