James v. Bream

Citations

• 263 Pa. 305
• 106 A. 722
• 1919 Pa. LEXIS 421

Syllabus

<p>Ejectment — Adverse possession — Parties—Necessity of showing continuous possession for twenty-one years as against holder of record title — Payment of taxes — Nonsuit.</p> <p>1. A verdict for plaintiffs in ejectment brought in 1913 cannot be sustained against the holder of the record title, where plaintiffs’ claim to title was based upon adverse possession and a judgment in ejectment obtained in 1886 against a stranger to the title, and entry under a habere facias possessionem, and the further fact that a year later the predecessors in title of defendant and holders of the record title commenced an action of ejectment against plaintiffs in the first ejectment but took a voluntary nonsuit, and where the evidence also showed the plaintiffs were not in possession after 1892, and probably not after 1887. In such a case the plaintiff, claiming title by adverse possession is bound to show a continued and unbroken possession for the full twenty-one years to prevail against the holder of the record title.</p> <p>2. Assessment and payment of taxes do not prove title to real estate but are circumstances tending -to support a claim of possession.</p> <p>3. The rights of the holder of the record title to real estate are not affected by a verdict and judgment in ejectment against a third person where it does not appear that such person bore any relation to the holder of the record title or that the latter’s title was in any manner involved in the action.</p> <p>4. A voluntary nonsuit taken by plaintiff in an action of ejectment, does not settle the title t<* the land in controversy since, at most, when unexplained it can only be considered as a circumstance unfavorable to him who takes it.</p>