Here's one of those owner-puts-up-a-fence-that-is-actually-on-his-neighbor's-property situations, this time with a very Hollywood twist.
The owner, you see, was Larry Hagman, of Dallas and I Dream of Jeannie fame. Seems the fence between his Ojai, California property and that of his neighbors, a religous group, was .44 acres into their land, and Hagman claimed it by adverse possession. In Hagman's quiet title action, the trial court granted him summary judgment.
In Hagman v. Meher Mount Corp., No. B239014 (Apr. 3, 2013), the Court of Appeal affirmed. The court held that Meher Mount's property is not immune from adverse possession by virtue of it being owned by a "public benefit corporation," because that is not the same as a "public entity." The latter are "vested with some degree of sovereignty." Slip op. at 4. Even though public benefit corporations like Meher Mount require government approval, "[t]hey are not owned or operated by the government. They do not possess any of the traditional incidents of soverign authority such as the power to tax or to condemn property." Id. at 5.
As for Meher Mount's argument that J.R. had not shown that he paid the property taxes and mosquito assessments on the land during the prescription period, the court held that Meher Mount did not pay property taxes, so Hagman was not required to either. And the mosquito assessment? Not a "tax" according to the court. See id. at 9-10.
Hagman v. Meher Mount Corp., No. B239014 (Cal. App. Apr. 3, 2013)
