● Elements
○ Actual possession of property by adverse posessor (AP)
■ Or hostile possession
■ Adequate modifications of land, require time, labor,
resources spent on the land to change it that adds value
● Rewarding labor is key
○ AP’s possession is open and notorious
■ AP must do something to provide reasonable notice to the
actual title holder of the property
■ Reasonableness is viewed from the eyes of the
reasonable original owner/public
● Blue paint
○ Exclusive
■ AP intends to possess the land and exclude all other
claims to it
● Still sharing with og owner or doing things to
prevent people coming onto the land
○ Continuous and Uninterrupted
■ AP must be in constant possession of the land for
however long the statutory period (typically 10 years)
● Ex: Howard v. Kunto
● Transfer of land is governed by statute of frauds
and must be written
● Fairdealing Apostolic Church v. Casnger
○ Church trying to put iup walls
○ Lays out adverse possession well
■ Actual
● Intent to possess
■ Exclusive
● Did ap try to keep the land to themselves? Yes or
no?
■ Talks about continuous and uninterrupted
● See howard v kunto
● Stratford v. Long
○ Case of AP taking over some pretty land
○ Great case for showing what actual possession and open and
notrious
○ Both of these features depend in large part on what the
property looks like!
■ Not building apartments on a waterfall
● Manilo v. Gorski
○ Concrete step case
○ Open and notorious
○ Different interpretations of adverse possession
■ Majority simple it is a yes or no question. Mindset does
not matter
■ Minority (good faith): action must be done in good faith
aka by mistake
■ Minority (bad faith): AP must know they are taking
someone elses land and still do it anyway
● Howard v Kunto
○ Everyone was wrong on where they were supposed to stay
○ Tacking
■ AP’s time controlling the land is added onto the next AP’s
time
■ Only allowed when the AP’s trying to tack on land
possessed the land in privity
○ Shows flexibility on continuous and uninterrupted
■ Both are determined based on the nature and condition of
property
■ Essentially did the AP use the land in the manner it would
normally be used for at all times
● No one stays at the vacation/beach home year
round
●