Introduction As Martin’s attorney, we have several issues to look into for Martin. The first issue is one being the joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Martin believes that he is the sole owner of the mountain property since all his friends that were joint tenants have passed away. The second issue is that of the man, Otis, living on the mountain property, which is a case of adverse possession. The eminent domain issue with the coastal property is another issue we are looking into for Martin. Martin is not ready to give up the coastal property, but the reality is that he does not have a choice. However, he does have a choice in whether he proposes a selling price, or not. The last issue is a case of bailment with Martin’s car.
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His friends have all passed away, and he had not been out to the property in more than 20 years. Martin has learned that one of his friends, Peter had willed his interest in the property to his son, Andrew. According to Fetters (1986), a joint tenant can cut his interest from joint tenancy ownership without the approval or even the knowledge of the other joint tenants. Therefore, Andrew owns the interest in the land that once belonged to his father. The bank should have sought legal documents as to what part of the land clearly belonged to Andrew, instead of taking Andrew’s word as to how much of the land he owned. We will prove to the lender that Andrew’s interest in the land did not include the entire property, so Martin should not have to lose the entire property due to Andrew defaulting on the …show more content…
Otis had not seen anyone on the property for some time, so he had built a home on the property and believed he owns the land. According to Richardson (2015), for a person to establish a claim of adverse possession, the person must have made the possession public, evident, and notorious. For an adverse possession to be public and notorious, the possession must have established a fair opportunity for the proprietor to receive notice of the adverse possession claim. One way to notify the owner is to place a classified ad in the local newspaper. Martin had not received any notification about the adverse possession. I will be checking with the local newspaper to find out if Otis had placed an ad at any time. If Otis did place an ad in the local newspaper, Martin would not have seen this ad because he lives in another area, so the ad should have also been placed in the newspaper in the area where Martin lives. Though Otis claims to have lived on the property openly and notoriously for over 20 years, this will need to be proven in court. If we are successful in preventing foreclosure on the land due to Andrew’s outstanding loan, Martin will proceed to offer for sale the part of the property that he is currently occupying.
His friends have all passed away, and he had not been out to the property in more than 20 years. Martin has learned that one of his friends, Peter had willed his interest in the property to his son, Andrew. According to Fetters (1986), a joint tenant can cut his interest from joint tenancy ownership without the approval or even the knowledge of the other joint tenants. Therefore, Andrew owns the interest in the land that once belonged to his father. The bank should have sought legal documents as to what part of the land clearly belonged to Andrew, instead of taking Andrew’s word as to how much of the land he owned. We will prove to the lender that Andrew’s interest in the land did not include the entire property, so Martin should not have to lose the entire property due to Andrew defaulting on the …show more content…
Otis had not seen anyone on the property for some time, so he had built a home on the property and believed he owns the land. According to Richardson (2015), for a person to establish a claim of adverse possession, the person must have made the possession public, evident, and notorious. For an adverse possession to be public and notorious, the possession must have established a fair opportunity for the proprietor to receive notice of the adverse possession claim. One way to notify the owner is to place a classified ad in the local newspaper. Martin had not received any notification about the adverse possession. I will be checking with the local newspaper to find out if Otis had placed an ad at any time. If Otis did place an ad in the local newspaper, Martin would not have seen this ad because he lives in another area, so the ad should have also been placed in the newspaper in the area where Martin lives. Though Otis claims to have lived on the property openly and notoriously for over 20 years, this will need to be proven in court. If we are successful in preventing foreclosure on the land due to Andrew’s outstanding loan, Martin will proceed to offer for sale the part of the property that he is currently occupying.