## Facts

- Leo Lott (also known as Leo L. Garland and Leo L. Luckett) owned the north 135 feet of Government Lot 92; her former husband, Burnie B. Garland, owned the remaining south 195 feet.
- In 1958, Burnie caused a survey and recorded a subdivision plat (“Homesite Park Subdivision”) that inaccurately included land extending 75 feet into Lott’s portion, and he certified on the plat that he owned all property described.
- Burnie executed a deed of trust covering the platted property; the property was later reconveyed to him.
- In 1960, Burnie leased the platted land to Eagle River First Baptist Church with an option to purchase.
- After Burnie’s death in 1961, the National Bank of Alaska, as administrator, conveyed the same property by administrator’s deed to Muldoon Road Baptist Church, Inc., successor to Eagle River First Baptist Church.
- Lott left Alaska in 1955 and did not challenge the church’s possession until filing suit in 1967.
- The church and its predecessor maintained actual possession of the disputed strip for more than seven years before the lawsuit.

## Issues

1. Whether the church possessed the disputed strip under color of title based on the recorded plat and subsequent instruments, including a lease with option to purchase.
2. Which statute of limitations governed an ejectment/quiet-title action against a possessor claiming under color of title.
3. Whether the church’s possession satisfied the statutory requirements for adverse possession for the applicable period.

## Decision

- The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed the judgment quieting title in Muldoon Road Baptist Church, Inc.
- The court held the church claimed the disputed strip under color of title derived from recorded instruments, including the subdivision plat and the later conveyances in the chain.
- Applying the shorter limitations period for possession under color of title, the court concluded Lott’s ejectment/quiet-title claims were time-barred.
- The court determined the church’s and its predecessor’s possession was sufficient in duration and character to ripen into title by adverse possession.

## Legal Principles

- Color of title exists when a claim to land is founded on a written instrument or record that purports to convey title, even if the instrument is defective as to true ownership.
- A recorded plat and related recorded conveyancing documents may constitute color of title for land described on their face, notwithstanding a predecessor’s erroneous inclusion of another’s parcel.
- When possession is held under color of title, the shorter statute of limitations for actions to recover real property applies; once that period runs, the record owner’s recovery is barred.
- Adverse possession requires possession that is actual, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, and continuous for the statutory period; possession through a predecessor may be counted to satisfy the time requirement.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed that the church acquired title to the disputed strip by adverse possession because it held and occupied the land for the required period under color of title supplied by a recorded plat and a recorded chain of instruments, rendering the record owner’s 1967 ejectment and quiet-title action untimely.


Lott v. Muldoon Road Baptist Church, Inc., 466 P.2d 815 (Alaska 1970)