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Final Copy 289 Ga. 452

S11A0459. RAY et al. v. HARTWELL RAILROAD COMPANY et al. HUNSTEIN, Chief Justice. Appellants Betty Irelle Ray and Donald E. Cochran filed a petition to quiet title against all the world as to two parcels of land in downtown Lavonia, depicted as Tracts 1 and 1A on a 1996 plat prepared by Bartlett & Cash Land Surveyors, Inc., and asserted a claim for slander of title against appellee Hartwell Railroad Company. Hartwell only disputed appellants' title to the .67 acres of land comprising Tract 1A, claiming that this property lies within the 100-foot right-of-way it holds on either side of its railroad track running through Lavonia. A special master was appointed, and appellants moved for summary judgment on the grounds that they had established record and prescriptive title to the disputed property as a matter of law. Hartwell filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, asserting that no issue of material fact existed regarding its ownership of Tract 1A. The special master issued an order, subsequently adopted by the trial court, granting Hartwell's motion and denying appellants' motion. Appellants

appeal, arguing that the trial court erroneously concluded that Hartwell holds undisputed record and prescriptive title to Tract 1A by relying on certain inadmissible evidence. The special master's order concluded, however, that Hartwell was entitled to summary judgment not only because it had established undisputed record and prescriptive title to Tract 1A but also because appellants, as a matter of law, could not carry their burden of establishing their own record or prescriptive title to the disputed property.1 While appellants' notice of appeal states that they "hereby appeal . . . from the [trial court's order] granting summary judgment to [Hartwell] on its claims for record title and title by adverse possession . . . and for its denial of Plaintiffs' claim for title by adverse possession" (emphasis supplied), neither the enumerations of error nor the arguments in appellants' brief presents any challenge to the trial court's rulings that, as a matter of law, appellants cannot prove their title to

In granting summary judgment to Hartwell on the basis that appellants could not prove title, the trial court, in effect, granted summary judgment in Hartwell's favor on the grounds raised in appellants' motion for summary judgment. Appellants do not dispute the trial court's authority to do so under the circumstances of this case. See Eiberger v. West, 247 Ga. 767, 770 (1) (a) (281 SE2d 148) (1981) (discussing trial court's authority to grant summary judgment to non-moving party).
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the disputed property. Hartwell argues that because the portion of the trial court's order concluding that appellants cannot establish title to Tract 1A is not at issue on appeal and will stand regardless of the Court's disposition of appellants' enumerations of error, the appeal is moot and must be dismissed. See OCGA

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