Carpenter v. Ruperto
Supreme Court of Iowa
315 N.W.2d 782 (1982)
Virginia Carpenter (plaintiff), aware from the outset that a neighboring vacant lot belonged to someone else, began clearing and using portions of it starting in 1951 to prevent it from attracting rodents, eventually planting bushes, storing a propane tank, and extending her driveway onto it over the following decades. When a group of investors, Ruperto (defendants), bought the lot in 1978 and attempted to resolve her encroaching use, negotiations failed, and Carpenter sued to quiet title through adverse possession under a claim of right; the trial court found her use lacked good faith because she always knew the land belonged to another, and she appealed.
Whether a person may acquire real property by adverse possession under a claim of right if she is aware that someone else holds title to the property.