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S11A1451. HAFFNER v. DAVIS et al.
State: Georgia
Court: Supreme Court
Docket No: S11A1451
Case Date: 03/23/2012
Preview:Final Copy 290 Ga. 753 S11A1451. HAFFNER v. DAVIS et al. HUNSTEIN, Chief Justice. Micah L. Haffner filed this action to quiet title to a parcel of land in Haralson County that he claims to have purchased from his mother's estate. The trial court granted summary judgment to James and Regina Davis and Community and Southern Bank and denied Haffner's motion for summary judgment. Because Haffner has been in possession of the property known as 116 Golden Lane Road for less than 20 years and failed to exercise reasonable diligence, we affirm. Haffner's parents, Eric J. Haffner and Cheryl A. Haffner, purchased two tracts of land on Golden Lane Road in 1979. They built a house known as 128 Golden Lane Road, where they lived, and later built a smaller, one-story house known as 116 Golden Lane Road, where a relative resided. Haffner testified at his deposition that his parents and siblings understood that 128 Golden Lane Road was located on Tract 1 and 116 Golden Lane Road was located on Tract 2. In fact, both were built on Tract 1. In 1994, Haffner's parents divorced in Carroll County. Their settlement

agreement, which was incorporated in the divorce decree, required the husband to quitclaim his interest in the property known as 116 Golden Lane Road to the wife and required the wife to quitclaim her interest in the property known as 128 Golden Lane Road to the husband. The decree did not contain a legal

description of the properties. The couple exchanged quitclaim deeds. In the deed received by the wife, the metes-and-bounds description conveyed only Tract 2 and did not include the residence at 116 Golden Lane Road. The deed the husband received stated that it was "being made as provided by" the parties' divorce decree, but the metes-and-bounds description included both 128 Golden Lane Road and 116 Golden Lane Road. In 1997, Haffner purchased his mother's property from her estate. He contends that the estate administrator sold him what they thought was 116 Golden Lane Road. However, the deed Haffner received did not mention 116 Golden Lane Road or make reference to the divorce decree. Instead, the deed refers to a survey dated March 24, 1997, that shows the one-story house is located on Tract 1, north of the property conveyed to him. In 2004, the bank's predecessor-in-interest foreclosed on Eric Haffner's property and sold it to James and Regina Davis. The deed conveyed Tract 1 and 2

contains a metes-and-bounds description that places both 116 and 128 Golden Lane Road within the boundaries of the property. In 2007, the Davises commissioned a survey that confirmed that both houses were located on their property and filed a dispossessory action involving the smaller house. Later that year, Haffner filed this petition to quiet title to 116 Golden Lane Road. A special master determined that Haffner could not prevail on his adverse possession claim, but recommended denying summary judgment because the parties never intended to convey title to 116 Golden Lane Road to the Davises. Rejecting the special master's recommendation, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Davises and the bank. Haffner appeals. 1. In reviewing a trial court's order granting summary judgment, this Court views the evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn from it in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. Kaplan v. City of Sandy Springs, 286 Ga. 559, 560 (1) (690 SE2d 395) (2010). It is undisputed that Haffner's parents intended for his mother to receive title to 116 Golden Lane Road as part of their divorce and that Haffner thought he was buying the land on which the one-story house was located from his mother's estate, but that his deed and survey depicted 116 Golden Lane Road as outside the property he 3

was purchasing. Haffner first contends that he is entitled to 116 Golden Lane Road through adverse possession and the trial court erred in granting summary judgment without ruling on the claim. Construing the evidence in the light most favorable to Haffner, the undisputed facts show that he did not gain title to the house at 116 Golden Lane Road through adverse possession. He cannot establish title by prescription because he has not adversely possessed the property for the requisite 20 years. See OCGA
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