Howard v. Kunto, 477 P.2d 210 (1970) p143.

adverse possession

D’s home was on the wrong piece of property due to mix ups in the deeds

Kuntos appealed from a trial court decision granting quiet title.

What happens when the descriptions in deeds does not fit the land the deed holders are occupying?

1. Is a claim of adverse possession defeated because the physical use of the premises is restricted to summer occupancy?
2. May a person who receives record title to tract A under the mistaken belief that he has title to tract B and who subsequently occupies tract B, for the purpose of establishing title to tract B by adverse possession, use the periods of possession of tract B by his immediate predecessors who also had record title to tract A?

???

1. We reject the conclusion that summer occupancy only of a summer beach home destroys the continuity of possession as required by the statute.
2. There is sufficient privity of estate to permit tacking and thus establish adverse possession as a matter of law.

privity: roots in the notion that a succession of trespasses should not be allowed to defeat the record title.

tacking: the act of adding one’s own period of land possession to that of a prior possessor in order to establish continuous adverse possession for the statutory period.