Opinion ID: 2364766
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: parties and pleadings

Text: [¶ 2] So as better to present the detailed facts and the issues, we will briefly introduce the parties and identify their primary pleadings. The appellants are James E. Bellis and Bette Lu Bellis (the Bellises). They were the plaintiffs in a quiet title and declaratory judgment action filed on April 4, 2006, against Torey S. Hanks and Julie B. Hanks (the Hanks), Benjamin H. Howard, Jr. and Benjamin H. Howard IV (the Howards), and Rocky Mountain Timberlands, Inc. (RMT). [1] The Hanks, Howards, and RMT filed an Answer denying the Bellises' claims, but presented no counterclaims. Prior to the filing of that action, the Bellises were the defendants in an action filed by Ronny L. Kersey and Peggy J. Kersey (the Kerseys) alleging trespass and seeking quiet title, injunctive relief, and ejectment. In their counterclaim against the Kerseys, the Bellises asked that title be quieted in them. The district court consolidated the two cases because both disputes involved a contiguous area that had been under common ownership and the Bellises' claim of ownership to the disputed area of each parcel was based on the same evidence in regard to adverse possession. The following map shows the lands in question, with the shaded area in Sections 3 and 10 east of the Bellises' 1997 purchase and west of the fence being the disputed area.