Whose land is it? Adverse Possesson in the State of Connecticut

Standard of Review for Adverse Possession


"The essential elements of adverse possession are that the owner shall be ousted from possession and kept out uninterruptedly for fifteen years under a claim of right by an open, visible, notorious, and exclusive possession of the claimant without license or consent of the owner. . . . Adverse possession must be proven by the claimant . . . by clear and convincing evidence." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Gemmell v. Lee, 59 Conn. App. 572, 578 (2000) citing Kramer v. Petisi, 53 Conn. App. 62, 67; cert. denied, 249 Conn. 919 (1999).


A use made under a claim of right is a use made "without recognition of the rights of the owner of the servient tenement. The use must occur without license or permission and must be unaccompanied by recognition of [the right of the owner of the servient tenement] to stop such use. . . . The claim of right requirement serves to ensure that permissive uses will not ripen into easements by prescription by requiring that the disputed use be adverse to the rights of the owner of the servient tenement." (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Faught v. Edgewood Corners, Inc., 63 Conn. App. 164, 170 (2001) citing Crandall v. Gould, 244 Conn. 583, 590-91 (1998).


"The Defendant must also prove that his use of the land was exclusive. This means that the possession by the Defendant was not shared with the Plaintiff's predecessors in title or anyone else for that matter. The requisite of exclusive possession for the statutory period is not met if the adverse user merely shares dominion over the property with other users.” Highland Associates v. Fohl, 62 Conn. App. 612, 619-620 (2001).


The requirement that an adverse possession be "notorious" in the sense of "being or constituting something that is commonly known: well known" (Webster, Third New International Dictionary) is obviously to give actual notice to an owner that a claim contrary to his ownership is being asserted or to lay a foundation for a finding of constructive notice. Pepe v. Aceto,119 Conn 282, 287 (1934); Schroeder v. Taylor, 104 Conn. 596, 605 (1926).


"Occupation must not only be hostile in its inception, but it must continue hostile, and at all times during the required period of fifteen years challenge the right of the true owner, in order to found title by adverse use upon it" (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Lazoff v. Padgett, supra, 2 Conn. App. 246, 250 (1984).