Piston v. Hughes

62 A.3d 440
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedFebruary 22, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 62 A.3d 440 (Piston v. Hughes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Piston v. Hughes, 62 A.3d 440 (Pa. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION BY MUSMANNO, J.:

• Keith A. Hughes and Sherri L. Campbell (“Appellants”), husband and wife, appeal from the Judgment entered by the trial court against them and in favor of Robert W. Piston and Kathy M. Piston (collectively, “the Pistons”). The Pistons have filed a cross-appeal challenging the trial court’s admission of certain evidence during the bench trial. Upon review, we affirm the Judgment entered by the trial court.

In its Opinion, the trial court briefly summarized the dispute underlying the instant appeal as follows:

[The Pistons] purchased their 43 acres of unimproved vacant woodlands in 2008 and then reported [certain] homeowners to the City of Hermitage[,] [as the homeowners] had sheds encroaching onto their land. The City of Hermitage sent letters to all of those homeowners who had not acquired building permits and directed them to remove the sheds from [the Pistons’] property. All of those homeowners complied[,] with the exception of [Appellants,] who wrongfully believed that they actually owned a 75 foot by 90 foot vacant tract of land acquired by [the Pistons] in their deed. Accordingly, [Appellants] filed an [A]n-swer and [N]ew [M]atter seeking a declaration by the court that [Appellants] have acquired title to the subject lot by adverse possession. While [Appellants] initially believed that they were exercising possession and/or control over the subject lot since 1984 on the mistaken belief that they actually owned that lot, [Appellants] have subsequently conceded that legal title to the subject property is in [the Pistons]....

Trial Court Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Verdict, 4/18/11, at 4-5.

After a bench trial, the trial court entered a verdict in favor of the Pistons, determining that Appellants had failed to establish their ownership of the disputed parcel by adverse possession. Id. at 5. Appellants filed a Notice of appeal, followed by a court-ordered Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925(b) Concise Statement of matters complained of on appeal. On September 1, 2011, the verdict of the trial court was rendered final by its entry of Judgment on the verdict.1,2 Thereafter, the Pistons filed a cross-appeal, followed by a court-ordered Rule 1925(b) Concise Statement. The appeals are now consolidated for our review.

We first address the claims raised by Appellants on appeal:

(1) Whether the evidence shows the tract in question to be woodlandsf?]
[443]*443(2) Whether [Appellants] proved adverse possession for the statutory period[?]

Brief of Appellants at 4.

While Appellants present two claims in their Statement of Questions Involved, they failed to divide the Argument section of their brief into “as many parts as there are questions to be argued[,]” as required by Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 2119(a). In their Argument, Appellants assert that “[t]he evidence is clear that [they] were in exclusive possession of a strip of land 75 feet wide by 90 feet in depth starting in 1984.” Brief of Appellants at 7. Appellants point out that the record owner of the parcel had notice of their use of the property. Id. at 8. Appellants further explain that they maintained the disputed parcel, using it as an “extension of their backyard[.]” Id. Further, Appellants argue that the parcel at issue does not meet the definition of “woodlands,” as they had cleared the land and maintained it as a yard. Id.

Appellate review in a non-jury case is limited to

a determination of whether the findings of the trial court are supported by competent evidence and whether the trial court committed error in the application of law. Findings of the trial judge in a non-jury case must be given the same weight and effect on appeal as a verdict of a jury and will not be disturbed on appeal absent error of law or abuse of discretion. When this Court reviews the findings of the trial judge, the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the victorious party below and all evidence and proper inferences favorable to that party must be taken as true and all unfavorable inferences rejected.

Shaffer v. O’Toole, 964 A.2d 420, 422 (Pa.Super.2009) (quoting Hart v. Arnold, 884 A.2d 316, 330-381 (Pa.Super.2005) (citations omitted)).

The [trial] court’s findings are especially binding on appeal, where they are based upon the credibility of the witnesses, unless it appears that the court abused its discretion or that the court’s findings lack evidentiary support or that the court capriciously disbelieved the evidence. Conclusions of law, however, are not binding on an appellate court, whose duty it is to determine whether there was a proper application of law to fact by the [trial] court. With regard to such matters, our scope of review is plenary as it is with any review of questions of law.

Id. at 422-23 (quoting Christian v. Yanoviak, 945 A.2d 220, 224-25 (Pa.Super.2008) (some internal citations and quotation marks omitted)); accord Zuk v. Zuk, 55 A.3d 102, 106 (Pa.Super.2012).

“One who claims title by adverse possession must prove actual, continuous, exclusive, visible, notorious, distinct and hostile possession of the land for twenty-one years. Each of these elements must exist; otherwise, the possession will not confer title.” Rec. Land Corp. v. Hartzfeld, 947 A.2d 771, 774 (Pa.Super.2008) (quoting Flannery v. Stump, 786 A.2d 255, 258 (Pa.Super.2001) (internal citations omitted)).

The requirements for actual possession of a property will necessarily vary based on the nature of the property. Shaffer, 964 A.2d at 424.

Our case law has developed a rather strict standard for proving adverse possession of woodland. A person establishes actual possession of a woodland by residence or cultivation of a part of the tract of land to which the woodland belongs.
[444]*444The issue of whether a parcel of land is woodland appears to be a threshold factual question for the trial court to decide in the first instance.

Id. (quoting Hartzfeld, 947 A.2d at 774 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted)); see also Bride v. Robwood Lodge, 713 A.2d 109, 112 (Pa.Super.1998) (stating that “[w]hat constitutes adverse possession depends, to a large extent, on the character of the premises.”).

On appeal, Appellants challenge the trial court’s finding that the parcel in dispute is “woodland.” See generally Brief of Appellants at 8. Appellants observe that, in order to apply adverse possession case law involving woodlands, “the [trial] court had to follow an industry expert of [the Pistons] who opined that in the timber industry, all land upon which woodlands sit is woodland.” Id.

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Bluebook (online)
62 A.3d 440, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/piston-v-hughes-pasuperct-2013.