Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Court reviews the award of an easement in a boundary line dispute

MICHAEL HONG v. LEROY FOUST, ET AL. (Tenn. Ct. App. February 8, 2012)

In this boundary line dispute, the defendants sought to claim property beyond a road known as "Creek Road." The trial court concluded that the road constituted the defendants' southern boundary.

However, because the plaintiff's complaint sought the adoption of a survey that conceded a small strip of land south of Creek Road to the defendants, along with the fact that the plaintiff testified that he believed that the defendants owned some property south of Creek Road, the trial court granted the defendants a strip alongside the road about four feet deep.

After the defendants moved to conform their pleading to the proof and sought relief under the doctrine of adverse possession, the trial court reopened the proof to consider adverse use. Another opinion was issued awarding the defendants a strip extending approximately ten feet from the southern edge of Creek Road. The defendants appeal. We affirm the findings of the trial court.

Opinion available at:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2012/hongm_020812.pdf