Florida Finance Co. v. Sheffield

Citations

• 56 Fla. 285

Syllabus

<p>1. A plaintiff in ejectment must recover upon the strength oí his own title and not upon the weakness of his adversary’s. lie cannot recover as against one without title unless he prove title or prior possession.</p> <p>2. A plaintiff in ejectment cannot recover merely on the strength of a deed to himself, without showing that his grantor had a prima facie right to recover, and a mere deed unaccompanied by evidence of the grantor’s seizin is not prima facie evidence of the grantor’s title. lie must trace his title back to the ultimate source of title or to a grantor in possession at or near the time of his grant.</p> <p>3. Certified copies of deeds should not be admitted in evidence until the party offering them makes it to appear that the original deeds were not within his custody or control.</p> <p>4. Where the defendant in an action of ejectment, or those under whom he claims, goes into actual possession of land purchased at tax sale under a tax deed regular on its face, but based upon a void assessment, such actual possession for the pexdod of four years, prescribed by Section 591 of the General Statutes, prior to the bringing of the action will bar the suit.</p>