Preview:

STATE OF MICHIGAN COURT OF APPEALS

SHARON CHAPIN and KELLY RETH, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v GEORGE E. DOREY, JR. and JANICE A. DOREY, Defendants-Appellees.

UNPUBLISHED February 3, 2009

No. 275666 Berrien Circuit Court LC No. 04-003007-CH

Before: Markey, P.J., Whitbeck and Gleicher, JJ. PER CURIAM. In this quiet title action, plaintiffs appeal as of right the trial court's entry of a December 2006 judgment quieting title in favor of defendants. The December 2006 judgment vacated a prior, 2005 judgment partially quieting title in plaintiffs. We reverse. The parties contest the ownership of a small peninsula (the Point) that extends about 100feet into Little Paw Paw Lake in Coloma Township.1 Plaintiffs Sharon Chapin and Kelly Reth, mother and daughter, respectively, own lots 15 and 16 in the Rupley Subdivision in Coloma Township. The southern border of Lot 15 runs along Little Paw Paw Lake. The Rupley Subdivision plat specifically provides, "Lots 9 to 15 extend to edge of Little Paw Paw Lake." In a 2002 complaint, plaintiffs raised a quiet title count, theorizing that they had a priority interest in a portion of the Point on the basis that they and their predecessors in interest always had ownership "to the water line of Little Paw Paw Lake." Plaintiffs suggested that their ownership encompassed a portion of the Point, which had grown or expanded to some degree, given that "[t]he water level in Little Paw Paw Lake has receded considerably over the passage of time since the Property was originally patented, causing new land to emerge through `reliction.'" The complaint alternatively sought title to a portion of the Point through adverse possession. Defendants George E. Dorey, Jr. and Janice A. Dorey, husband and wife, own approximately 40 acres in Coloma Township, which lie almost entirely west of the Rupley

The Point is bordered by Dedrick Creek to the west, and juts into Little Paw Paw Lake in a southeasterly direction.

1

-1-

Subdivision. Defendants premised their claim of priority to ownership of the Point on the fact that their deed, and those of their predecessors in interest, contained the following relevant description allegedly encompassing the Point: "ALSO, so much of the Southeast

Download SHARON CHAPIN V GEORGE E DOREY JR.pdf

Michigan Law