Gurwit v. Kannatzer
Court of Appeals of Missouri
788 S.W.2d 293 (1990)
The Gurwits (plaintiffs) bought land in 1963 believing it included a 17-acre tract that actually belonged to their neighbors, the Gruenders (defendants), and for twenty years posted no-trespassing signs, cleared brush, cut firewood, granted firewood-cutting permission to friends, and were even notified by the Gruenders themselves when trespassers appeared on the tract; after discovering the Gruenders held record title in 1983, the Gurwits sued to quiet title based on adverse possession, and the trial court found for them, prompting the Gruenders' appeal.
Whether, under Missouri law, a person whose possession of a property is hostile, actual, open and notorious, exclusive, and continuous for the statutory period of 10 years may gain title to that property by adverse possession.