Opinion ID: 2543629
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: relevant properties and property interests

Text: ¶ 3 The Aults purchased the north lot in 1962 from Clarence M. Plant and Anna M. Plant Ross pursuant to a uniform real estate contract. The real estate purchase contract provided for delivery of a warranty deed upon completion of a series of payments. This contract was recorded with the Tooele County Recorder's Office in December 1962. The payments were made, and Plant and Ross executed a warranty deed [2] on June 15, 1972, and delivered it to the Aults (Ault deed). The Aults recorded the deed on August 22, 1975. ¶ 4 On March 21, 1973, the Holdens purchased the property directly south of the Ault property. [3] They recorded the warranty deed conveying the south lot to them (Holden deed) on April 9, 1973. Then, on February 26, 1976, the Holdens purchased a thin, triangle-shaped parcel of property (triangular parcel) located on the west of the Holden property and west of the southern portion of the Ault property. ¶ 5 Along the border of the north and south lots sits the strip in question, which is approximately 30 feet wide and 553 feet long. On the north side of the strip is a fence line, [4] which runs westwardly from a county road bounding the south lot, the north lot, and the strip on the eastto a point about 26 feet from the Ault property's western boundary, as defined by the Ault deed, and then turns northward. The Ault deed's legal description of the north lot expressly encompasses the strip, but the Holden deed's legal description of the south lot does not explicitly include the strip. ¶ 6 On the west, the fence continues northwesterly for about 115 feet. West of this section of the fence is the western parcel, a rectangular parcel of property. The western parcel, which is about 26 feet wide and 115 feet long, is also claimed by both the Aults and the Holdens. The legal description of the Ault property also expressly encompasses the western parcel, but the legal description of the Holden property does not. Whether the Holdens have occupied the western parcel for more than twenty years is unclear from the record and the parties' briefs, but the trial court specifically found that the Holdens are in possession of the disputed property, implicitly finding that the Holdens occupied the western parcel. ¶ 7 Before purchasing the south lot, the Holdens leased the lot commencing in 1969. From that time, the Holdens occupied the south lot. They also used the strip in controversy up to the fence. Indeed, between April 1, 1972, and sometime in 1977, the Holdens leased the Ault property from the Aults. Further, the Holdens used the Ault property between 1982 and 1997. [5]