Adverse Possession

893 Florida cases classified under this topic · sorted by citation count · see the citation graph · browse and sort

• Hollywood, Inc. v. City OF Hollywood
  321 So. 2d 65· Fla.· 1975-04-23 ·cited 48×
  Hollywood, Inc., a private corporation that acquired beachfront property in 1931, appealed a decision reversing the trial court's ruling that it held title to two miles of ocean-front beach in Hollywood, Florida. The Florida Supreme Court addressed whether the City of Hollywood c
• Ida v. Carr and her husband
  73 Fla. 233· Fla.· 1917-02-02 ·cited 48×
  Theodore Lesley sought to quiet title to a ten-acre tract in Hillsborough County, claiming he had acquired it by adverse possession against the appellants (the Morgan daughters and their spouses). The Florida Supreme Court reversed, holding that Lesley's possession was that of a
• Trs. OF Tufts Coll. v. Triple R. Ranch, Inc.
  275 So. 2d 521· Fla.· 1973-03-21 ·cited 46×
  The Florida Supreme Court determined whether Section 704.05, a 1970 statute limiting mineral rights easements to 20 years, applies retroactively to interests created before its enactment. The Court held the statute applies only prospectively, thereby protecting pre-existing veste
• Kimble v. Willey
  204 F.2d 238· 8th Cir.· 1953-05-14 ·cited 46×
  The court held that the principle that a tenant may not dispute his landlord's title does not prevent the continuity of hostile possession from being broken by an attornment to a legal owner or purchaser who lacks notice of the prior landlord-tenant relationship.
• Keil v. West
  21 Fla. 508· Fla.· 1885-06-01 ·cited 46×
  Jane Keil appealed a partition decree in a suit brought by Mary L. West and her sisters for division of land held as tenants in common. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the decree, rejecting Keil's contentions that the bill was deficient, the subpoena defective, and that she sh
• Holley v. MAY
  75 So. 2d 696· Fla.· 1954-11-12 ·cited 44×
  This case addresses whether defendants who conveyed property by deed could later challenge the conveyance based on mutual mistake of fact, and whether they established valid defenses of title by acquiescence or adverse possession. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial cour
• Commercial Bldg. Co. v. Parslow
  93 Fla. 143· Fla.· 1927-01-21 ·cited 44×
  The Florida Supreme Court addressed whether a statute of limitations and laches can run against remaindermen before the termination of a life estate. The court held that while the general rule protects remaindermen, exceptions apply when the life tenant abandons the life tenancy
• Marion Mortgate Co. v. Grennan
  106 Fla. 913· Fla.· 1932-10-04 ·cited 43×
  Marion Mortgage Company seeks to foreclose a mortgage on property that was sold under a contract for deed to the Reeds, who took possession nearly two years before the mortgage was executed. The Florida Supreme Court affirms the trial court's dismissal of the foreclosure bill, ho
• Lizzie Andreu v. Watkins
  26 Fla. 390· Fla.· 1890-06-01 ·cited 43×
  This case involves competing claims to a strip of land in St. Augustine, Florida. The Florida Supreme Court held that a deed's description must be interpreted according to its plain language and reference to recorded surveys, and that parol evidence cannot be used to override an
• Gibbs v. McCoy
  70 Fla. 245· Fla.· 1915-11-02 ·cited 42×
  This case involves an ejectment action where the court reversed the lower court's judgment because it failed to specify the quantity of the plaintiff's estate, a mandatory statutory requirement. The court also addressed the validity of amendments to the declaration, allowing gran
• Hughes v. Hannah
  39 Fla. 365· Fla.· 1897-01-01 ·cited 42×
  The Florida Supreme Court holds that a statute allowing persons claiming title to land to sue in equity against adverse possessors violates the constitutional right to trial by jury when defendants hold land adversely under claim of title. The court affirms that actions for recov
• Robinson v. Howe
  35 Fla. 73· Fla.· 1895-01-01 ·cited 42×
  In this equity suit, the court reversed a decree that would have subjected real property to a judgment lien because necessary parties—specifically the successors in title to a railroad company whose property was sold under a first lien—were not made parties to the litigation. The
• The Skinner Mfg. Co. v. Lum Wright
  56 Fla. 561· Fla.· 1908-06-01 ·cited 41×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's judgment for the defendant in an ejectment action. The plaintiff failed to prove title or prior possession of the disputed real estate, which is a requirement to recover in an ejectment suit.
• Coggan v. Coggan
  239 So. 2d 17· Fla.· 1970-07-13 ·cited 40×
  A Florida Supreme Court case addressing whether a former husband who remained in exclusive possession of jointly owned real estate after divorce must account to his former wife for rental value. The Court held that absent evidence of adverse possession or actual ouster communicat
• Couture v. The Cnty. of Dade by J. W. Carey
  93 Fla. 342· Fla.· 1927-02-26 ·cited 40×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed an injunction issued by Dade County to prevent landowners from obstructing the Ocean Beach Road, holding that the road was not a public highway because it lacked the elements required to establish public highway status, particularly adverse use
• The Clark-Ray-Johnson Co. v. Williford
  62 Fla. 453· Fla.· 1911-06-01 ·cited 40×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the cancellation of a tax deed as a cloud on title, holding that the tax deed was void because the statutory notice requirements were not strictly complied with. The court ruled that mandatory statutory provisions protecting a property owner's r
• Bossom v. Gillman
  70 Fla. 310· Fla.· 1915-11-17 ·cited 39×
  In an ejectment action over disputed property boundaries, the Florida Supreme Court reversed judgment for the plaintiff, holding that the defendant established title by adverse possession to the disputed 174 feet of Lot 51 A. through fourteen years of open occupation and possessi
• George Wheaton Deans de Bonis Non of the Estate of Jacob Foreman v. Wilcoxon
  25 Fla. 980· Fla.· 1889-06-01 ·cited 39×
  This case involves a dispute over the administration and distribution of Jacob Foreman's estate nearly 30 years after his death in 1856. The heirs challenged sales of real property authorized by administrators to pay a claim dating to 1838, alleging the claim was invalid and barr
• Carn v. Haisley
  22 Fla. 317· Fla.· 1886-01-01 ·cited 39×
  David H. Carn brought an ejectment action against Julia and W. P. Haisley for two lots in Ocala, claiming title through an unsealed deed from Elizabeth Jackson. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's judgment for defendants, holding that Carn's deed was defective un
• McCULLOCH v. Glasgow
  620 F.2d 47· 5th Cir.· 1980-06-23 ·cited 38×
  The court held that the state claim damages award was improper due to erroneous jury instructions regarding adverse possession against a municipality, and the federal due process claim damages award was also improper due to uncertainty in the jury's findings regarding actual vers
• Dierks Lumber & Coal Co. v. Barnett
  221 F.2d 695· 8th Cir.· 1955-04-29 ·cited 38×
  The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment, finding no clear error in the application of Arkansas law to the facts.
• Fairlie v. Scott
  88 Fla. 229· Fla.· 1924-10-09 ·cited 38×
  This case concerns whether a statute of limitations or equitable estoppel can bar a remainderman's claim to property when a life tenant conveys the entire estate to a third party. The court held that while a remainderman generally has a right to possession upon the life tenant's
• Jones v. Hiller
  65 Fla. 532· Fla.· 1913-06-09 ·cited 38×
  J.J. Jones, an heir of a deceased mortgagor, sought to redeem property sold at a foreclosure sale in 1899, arguing the heirs were not made parties to the foreclosure proceedings and thus retained redemption rights. The Florida Supreme Court held that a bona fide purchaser at a fo
• Seaboard Air Line Ry. Co. v. Bd. of Bond Trs. of Special Rd. & Bridge Dist. No. 1 of Alachua Cnty.
  91 Fla. 612· Fla.· 1926-04-13 ·cited 37×
  Seaboard Air Line Railway Company sought to enjoin the Board of Bond Trustees from constructing a road over its granted right of way in Florida. The Florida Supreme Court held that the railway's right of way, granted by legislative act in 1855 under a public grant for internal im
• Liddon v. Hartwell Hodnett
  22 Fla. 442· Fla.· 1886-06-01 ·cited 37×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court reversed a jury verdict for the defendant and granted a new trial, holding that certified copies of federal land patents should have been admitted into evidence despite technical defects in the recording, and that the trial cour
• Spencer v. Spencer
  160 Fla. 749· Fla.· 1948-07-30 ·cited 36×
  A tenant in common cannot acquire a tax title to common property against their cotenants; such a purchase is considered a payment of taxes for all.
• Peninsular Naval Stores Co. v. Mathers
  96 Fla. 620· Fla.· 1928-12-04 ·cited 36×
  In an ejectment suit, the trial court found for the plaintiffs based on evidence including fire-damaged historical deeds, an abstract of title, a certified copy of a deed, and tax records. The defendant Peninsular Naval Stores Company appealed, challenging the admission of variou
• Osceola Fertilizer Co. v. Beville
  86 Fla. 479· Fla.· 1923-11-22 ·cited 36×
  In this ejectment action, Osceola Fertilizer Company sued T. Sol Beville for possession of specific land. The defendant asserted adverse possession and equitable defenses based on mutual mistake in a deed description. The Florida Supreme Court upheld the trial court's allowance o
• Alf KEY v. Mrs. Louise P. Wise
  629 F.2d 1049· 5th Cir.· 1980-11-05 ·cited 35×
  The court held that the state court's assumption of jurisdiction was not open to collateral attack, and therefore the federal court's dismissal based on res judicata was proper.
• Mumaw v. Roberson
  60 So. 2d 741· Fla.· 1952-10-17 ·cited 35×
  This case concerns whether a private easement for a street and park area, shown on a plat but never officially dedicated or accepted by the public, could be acquired by lot owners through adverse possession or other means. The Florida Supreme Court reversed a lower court's decisi
• Booth v. Lenox
  45 Fla. 191· Fla.· 1903-01-01 ·cited 35×
  Esther L. Booth challenged a partition decree that recognized her deceased husband's children as owners of property that Esther had purchased with her own separate property. The Florida Supreme Court reversed, holding that a resulting trust was created when Esther's money paid fo
• Meyer v. Neil F. LAW, Jr.
  287 So. 2d 37· Fla.· 1973-07-05 ·cited 34×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed the District Court of Appeal's decision granting respondents title to a portion of petitioners' land through adverse possession. The court held that adverse possession requires either color of title with tax payments or seven years of actual pos
• United States v. 936.71 Acres OF Land
  418 F.2d 551· 5th Cir.· 1969-10-13 ·cited 34×
  The court held that the intervenor lacked standing to challenge the validity of tax sales and that the State's claim to Tract 3912 was barred by laches and a twenty-year statute of limitations.
• Trs. of Internal Improvement Fund v. Bass
  67 So. 2d 433· Fla.· 1953-10-06 ·cited 34×
  The Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund sued in ejectment to recover land granted to the State under the Swamp Land Grant Act of 1850, but which had been sold for delinquent taxes in 1908 and subsequently purchased by the defendant Bass. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a
• Mabry v. Knabb
  151 Fla. 432· Fla.· 1942-06-05 ·cited 34×
  The Court held that an engineer's accident report, prepared for potential litigation, was not admissible under the business records exception to the hearsay rule. It also held that a general exception to a jury charge on contributory negligence was insufficient when part of the c
• Burt v. The Fla. S. Ry. Co.
  43 Fla. 339· Fla.· 1901-06-01 ·cited 34×
  In this ejectment action, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's judgment for the defendant railroad, holding that the plaintiff failed to prove title to the disputed property and that the court properly allowed the defendant to amend its pleadings after verdict to
• Bd. of Trs. of the Internal Improvement Tr. Fund v. Sand KEY Assocs., Ltd.
  512 So. 2d 934· Fla.· 1987-07-09 ·cited 33×
  The Florida Supreme Court holds that waterfront owners are entitled to accretions (gradual land accumulation) caused by artificial improvements constructed by others, but not to accretions they themselves caused. The Court affirmed the district court's reversal of summary judgmen
• Maone B. Guerard v. Waldron Roper
  385 So. 2d 718· Fla. 5th DCA· 1980-06-27 ·cited 33×
  The court held that the appellee failed to prove the necessary element of adversity for a prescriptive easement, as the use of the roadway was presumed permissive.
• Fla. Fin. Co. v. Sheffield
  56 Fla. 285· Fla.· 1908-06-01 ·cited 33×
  Florida Finance Company sued to recover land in ejectment, but the trial court granted a new trial after directing a verdict for the plaintiff because it improperly excluded a tax deed under which the defendant claimed title. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed, holding that a tax
• Kendrick v. Latham
  25 Fla. 819· Fla.· 1889-06-01 ·cited 33×
  This case concerns whether Latham and his predecessors in title established adverse possession of ten acres of land in Florida for the statutory period required by law. The court reversed the lower court's judgment for the plaintiff Kendrick, finding that despite gaps in the chai
• State OF NEW Mexico v. Aamodt
  537 F.2d 1102· 10th Cir.· 1976-06-28 ·cited 32×
  The court held that the Pueblos' water rights are not controlled by New Mexico state water law, and the district court erred in denying the Pueblos the right to independent representation by private counsel.
• Beaver v. United States
  350 F.2d 4· 9th Cir.· 1965-08-24 ·cited 32×
  The court held that equitable estoppel does not apply against the United States in this condemnation proceeding, and that the disputed land was formed by accretion, not avulsion, thus belonging to the United States.
• Wiggins v. Lykes Bros., Inc.
  97 So. 2d 273· Fla.· 1957-10-04 ·cited 32×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a declaratory judgment establishing that a grazing easement reserved in an 1922 deed ran with the land and was enforceable against the current owner, rejecting defenses of laches, equitable estoppel, adverse possession, and abandonment.
• Dacus v. Blackwell
  90 So. 2d 324· Fla.· 1956-10-24 ·cited 32×
  The Florida Supreme Court reversed a trial court's dismissal of a suit by heirs of Jerome T. Feaster's estate against the executor of his widow Maude Feaster's estate, holding that the widow, as executrix, remained a trustee liable for her pro rata share of estate taxes and admin
• Grable v. Nunez
  64 So. 2d 154· Fla.· 1953-02-17 ·cited 32×
  This case involves a 1921 conveyance of property by a spendthrift son to his mother, characterized as absolute on its face but challenged as creating a constructive trust or mortgage. The Florida Supreme Court reversed the lower court's decree creating a constructive trust, holdi
• Brown v. The Atlanta Nat'l Bldg. & Loan Ass'n
  46 Fla. 492· Fla.· 1903-06-01 ·cited 32×
  This case addresses whether a party holding a paramount title adverse to both a mortgagor and mortgagee can be joined in a foreclosure suit. The court held that generally, such a party cannot be joined, as foreclosure suits are not the proper venue for litigating claims of paramo
• Ellis v. Clark
  39 Fla. 714· Fla.· 1897-06-01 ·cited 32×
  Ellis sued to recover land, but the defendants produced a tax deed to Davis and Davis's subsequent deed to the Clark defendants. The Florida Supreme Court reversed a jury verdict for the defendants, holding that the trial court erred in instructing the jury that recording a deed
• Holland v. J.M. Hattaway
  438 So. 2d 456· Fla. 5th DCA· 1983-09-22 ·cited 31×
  Holland sought to quiet title to Lot 2, Block B, claiming fee simple absolute ownership free of an easement claimed by Hattaway over the northerly 25 feet. The trial court found Hattaway had superior rights through curative statute, the Marketable Record Title Act (MRTA), and con
• THE Travis Co. v. Tully Mayes and Mary LOU Mayes
  160 Fla. 375· Fla.· 1948-03-30 ·cited 31×
  The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's decision dismissing a mortgage foreclosure suit. The court found that while the statute of limitations had not technically run, the plaintiff's excessive delay in pursuing the foreclosure, coupled with the defendant's significant
• Day v. Benesh
  104 Fla. 58· Fla.· 1932-01-19 ·cited 31×
  Homer Day purchased property through a chain of title beginning with a tax deed issued to Harry Seemiller in 1921 and subsequently obtained possession. Louis Benesh, the record title holder at the time of the tax sale, later asserted his title and sued to quiet title in his favor