O’Malley v. Little

Defendants Aaron and Maryann Little (Littles) appealed a Superior Court quieting title in plaintiffs Barbara O’Malley and her daughter Helen O’Malley a strip of land based upon adverse possession, as well as a previous order denying the Littles’ motion for summary judgment. Barbara and her husband, Joseph, acquired the “McKay Lot” in 1963 for use as a summer home. Over the next 50 years, the couple lived there with their children. The backyard of the McKay Lot abutted the backyard of the Littles’ property (“Francis Lot”). In October 1993, Barbara contracted for the installation of a chain link fence between the McKay Lot and the Francis Lot after tenants from the latter began walking across the yard of the Francis Lot with beach chairs and scratching Helen’s car. The fence was placed about three to five feet over the property line between the two lots. Between the fence and the property line (disputed area), there was a clothesline and outdoor shower and grill, all of which were used frequently by the O’Malley family. The plaintiffs and their relatives and friends would occasionally park against the fence. In 1996, following the death of her husband, Barbara deeded the McKay Lot to herself and her daughter Helen. The Littles purchased the Francis Lot in December 2008. Upon acquiring the property, the Littles assumed that the actual property line was represented by the fence between the two properties. However, in the spring of 2010, Scott McCarthy, a prior owner of the Francis Lot, informed the Littles that the plaintiffs’ fence encroached approximately three to five feet onto the Francis Lot from the actual property line. The Littles confirmed this statement by reviewing a survey plan and measuring the property line with a tape measure. They then called plaintiffs in April 2010 to inform them of this discovery, before stating that they needed to move the fence. Plaintiffs refused. Upon reviewing the record, the New Hampshire Supreme Court found ample evidence that there was “no evidence that [record owner] took steps to eject [adverse possessors] or to disrupt their open possession of the disputed parcel” and affirmed quieting title in plaintiffs. View "O'Malley v. Little" on Justia Law