Blaylock v. Clarida

• Decision Date: 16 February 1999
• Docket Number: No. WD,WD
• Citation: 987 S.W.2d 18
• Parties: Darrel R. BLAYLOCK, Appellant, v. Patrick and Teresa CLARIDA, Respondents. 55557.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 18

987 S.W.2d 18

Darrel R. BLAYLOCK, Appellant, v. Patrick and Teresa CLARIDA, Respondents.

No. WD 55557.

Missouri Court of Appeals,

Western District.

Feb. 16, 1999.

Bruce A. Bailey, Warrensburg, for appellant.

Respondents acting pro se.

Before Chief Judge PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE, Presiding Judge LAURA DENVIR STITH and Judge VICTOR C. HOWARD.

LAURA DENVIR STITH, Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Darrel R. Blaylock appeals from a judgment entered February 2, 1998, quieting title to a 10-foot strip of land in favor of Defendant-Respondents Patrick and Teresa Clarida. Mr. Blaylock claims there was no substantial evidence to support the trial court's decision in that the evidence demonstrated deed ownership through him and his predecessors in title for 17 consecutive years, the Claridas admitted their deed did not include the disputed property, and the evidence in the record established that the Claridas' title began in 1994 and there was no evidence they or their predecessors in title claimed any ownership of the disputed tract or established it by adverse possession for 10 years.

We find that the Claridas, who proceeded pro se, ¹ did not show record ownership of the 10-foot strip of land, to wit, the north 10 feet of Lot 41, and did not plead that they adversely possessed the land or ask the court to allow them to amend their pleadings to assert adverse possession of the 10-foot strip, and therefore the court erred in finding that they adversely possessed the 10-foot strip in question. It was undisputed that no other person has record title to any of the strip. Moreover, while Mr. Clarida did assert that his own belief was that a small portion of his garage may extend onto a small portion of the 10-foot strip, he nowhere testified as to what part of the garage so extended, or what portion of the 10-foot strip it extended on, or as to how long the garage had been in existence. He also inconsistently testified that he knew the land belonged to Mr. Blaylock by deed and that the land in question did not include his garage but that of a neighbor, Mr. Tipton. Mr. Blaylock himself testified that none of the 10-foot strip as to which he sought to quiet title included any building, either that of Mr. Tipton or Mr. Blaylock. Adding to this confusion was the court's indication that it was granting the Claridas adverse possession of a different 10-foot strip than that as to which Mr. Blaylock sought to quiet title, although the court's order referred to the 10-foot strip which was claimed by Mr. Blaylock.

Due to the confusion and inconsistencies in the record, we must remand. What is clear from the record is that the land as to which Mr. Blaylock seeks to quiet title is the north 10 feet of Lot 41, and that is the only land in issue. The only admissible evidence of the location of the land was the evidence of the survey and plat, the boundaries of which were marked by flags. ² On remand, however, the court must clarify precisely where this evidence shows that this land is located, and whether any portion of the Claridas' garage intrudes on any portion of the strip in question. If not, then under the evidence the court must quiet title in Mr. Blaylock. If some portion of the Claridas' garage intrudes on the strip, then the court should undertake further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Mr. Blaylock and the Claridas each own residential property to the back and side of the other's property in Holden, Missouri. Mr. Blaylock's legal description describes his real estate as:

The North Half of Lot 25; all of Lot 24; and Lot 41 EXCEPT the South 50 feet thereof; all in Mize & Coventry's Addition to the City of Holden, in Johnson County, Missouri.

The Claridas' legal description describes their real estate as:

The South 50 feet of Lot 41, and the North 10 feet of Lot 40, in Mize & Coventry's Addition to the City of Holden, in Johnson County, Missouri.

As shown by Plaintiff's Exhibit 17, identified as a portion of a plat of survey of the area, the two properties border each other approximately as follows:

NOTE: OPINION CONTAINS TABLE OR OTHER DATA THAT IS NOT VIEWABLE

The dispute between the parties concerns only Lot 41, for which the deeds indicate Mr. Blaylock owns the north 10 feet and the Claridas own the south 50 feet. ³ Count I of Mr. Blaylock's petition requested injunctive relief to prevent the Claridas from blocking access to Mr. Blaylock's property and placing obstructions in and across the north 10 feet of Lot 41, denying him the use of that property. In Count II, Mr. Blaylock requested the court to quiet title to this ten feet of land in him, asserting that he had record title to the land and also asserting that he or his predecessors had adversely possessed the land for 17 years.

The Claridas' answer called for Mr. Blaylock's petition to be dismissed for failure to state a cause of action; it did not request affirmative relief or claim they had established adverse possession of the strip of land in question. Nevertheless, after a trial to the court, the judge found that the Claridas had met all the requirements for adverse possession of the 10-foot strip of land and quieted title to it in their favor.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We will not disturb the trial court's decision in a court-tried case unless the judgment is not supported by substantial evidence, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976). We presume the trial court's decision is correct, and the appellant has the burden of showing error. Kerr v. Jennings, 886 S.W.2d 117, 123 (Mo.App.1994). We view the evidence and all favorable inferences in the light most favorable to the party prevailing, Graves v. Graves, 967 S.W.2d 632, 635 (Mo.App.1998), and it is with this in mind that we set forth the follow relevant facts.

III. MR. BLAYLOCK IS THE UNDISPUTED RECORD HOLDER OF THE NORTH 10 FEET OF LOT 41

Mr. Blaylock established his chain of title by placing in evidence certified deeds from the Johnson County, Missouri, Recorder of Deeds Office. All of the deeds in Mr. Blaylock's chain of title use the same legal description as contained in his warranty deed. At the time of trial, Mr. Blaylock's evidence established almost seventeen years of consecutive deed ownership in him and his predecessors in title. Mr. Blaylock also placed into evidence a plat of survey based on the legal description in his deed. The survey, prepared by James Whitehead, a registered land surveyor, illustrates the boundaries of Mr. Blaylock's land in accordance with the deed and further supports his claim that the disputed 10-foot tract on Lot 41 belongs to Mr. Blaylock.

The Claridas agree that record ownership of the north 10 feet of Lot 41 is in Mr. Blaylock, pursuant to his deed, and that their deed does not give them any record claim to the north 10 feet of Lot 41, stating:

Q. But the north 10 foot of Lot 41 you don't own, do you?

A. No, I don't.

Q. Okay. And you understand that the north 10 foot of Lot 41 is what is in dispute here today?

A. Correct.

The only record on which Mr. Clarida relied to show his ownership of the land was a Johnson County tax map and testimony about it by the county assessor. It is unclear, however, how introduction of the tax map into evidence or the testimony of the county assessor assists them. The map does not show the land as belonging to the Claridas, but rather as possibly belonging to Mr. Tipton who, as noted, lives to the north of the Claridas. More specifically, the assessor testified at trial that the tax map is based on the legal descriptions of the land, which are then drawn onto an aerial photograph. The parties do not dispute that the legal description of the land shows the land as belonging to Mr. Blaylock, however. How, then, could the tax map show the land as belonging to Mr. Tipton?

The assessor explained that a tax map is not intended to be used as a survey and should not be relied on as an exact placement of any structure in relation to any lot line. He further testified that there are occasionally errors on these types of drawings, and in fact, there was previously an error on a lot adjacent in the area in dispute. He also stated that at the time the map was made up it was within the permissible range of error for the map to be inaccurate by up to 50 feet based on the scale and the size of the map. Thus, the map could not be used to show the exact ownership of the 10-foot strip at issue. Moreover, the assessor testified that the map attributed the 10 feet to Mr. Tipton only because the person preparing it could not determine who owned the strip (although the recorded deed showed it was owned by Mr. Blaylock or his predecessors), yet the map had to show it was owned by someone. Therefore, the map showed it was Mr. Tipton's only with a dotted line, and due to the confusion even Mr. Tipton was not taxed on these 10 feet, but rather only on the 60 feet which his deed showed him to own. We fail to see how this evidence would prevent quieting title to the land in Mr. Blaylock; it certainly does not support any claim of record title in the Claridas.

The Claridas' claim of record ownership of the disputed tract also appears to be based on the fact that they and their neighbors had believed that part of the 10 feet belonged to the Claridas and part to the Claridas' neighbor to the north, Mr. Tipton. These beliefs were apparently based on their lack of knowledge that the 10 feet in question belonged to the owner of the lot behind them, and also on Mr. Clarida's personal beliefs as to how boundary lines are measured when a survey is performed. He testified that he had himself surveyed the land according to his belief as to the proper method of conducting a survey. Mr. Clarida testified that he went in to the street and, "you look both ways, and this looks like about the center of the street."...