Adverse Possession is the ownership of property of another. When a person adversely possesses real property for ten years, such possession ripens into an original title. A person would have full claim of ownership on the parcel of land, or portion of parcel of land, that he claims to adversely possess. The Washington law on the matter is as follows:
To establish a claim of adverse possession, the burden is on the claimant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the claimant’s possession is (1) exclusive, (2) actual and uninterrupted, (3) open and notorious, and (4) hostile. ITT Rayonier, Inc. v. Bell, 112 Wash.2d 754, 757, 774 P.2d 6 (1989). Each of the necessary elements must have existed for ten years. ITT Rayonier, 112 Wash.2d at 757, 774 P.2d 6 (citing RCW 4.16.020).[10] ” A claimant can satisfy the open and notorious element by showing either (1) that the title owner had actual notice of the adverse use throughout the statutory period or (2) that the claimant used the land such that any reasonable person would have thought he owned it.” Riley v. Andres, 107 Wash.App. 391, 396, 27 P.3d 618 (2001). Hostility requires ” that the claimant treat the land as his own as against the world throughout the statutory period.” Chaplin v. Sanders, 100 Wash.2d 853, 860-61, 676 P.2d 431 (1984). ” [I]f the use of another’s land is open, notorious and adverse, the law presumes knowledge or notice in so far as the owner is concerned.” Hovila v. Bartek, 48 Wash.2d 238, 241-42, 292 P.2d 877 (1956).
