Opinion ID: 1347916
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Hawthornes' Claim to Route 1.

Text: As proof of adverse use supporting the Hawthornes' claim to a prescriptive easement, the Hawthornes relied upon their predecessors' open, continuous use of Route 1 across the Colella property, under a claim of right, for the requisite five-year period. Testimony was presented by the Woods that the Hawthornes' predecessors in interest, the Kennedys, had used Route 1 across the Colella property from 1984 to 1991, until the Kennedys sold their property to the Hawthornes. The Idaho Court of Appeals has noted that a claimant of a prescriptive easement may rely on the adverse use by the claimant's predecessor for the prescriptive period or the claimant may couple such predecessor's use with the claimant's own use to establish the requisite five continuous years of adverse use. Roberts v. Swim, 117 Idaho 9, 13 n. 1, 784 P.2d 339, 343 n. 1 (Ct.App. 1989). Once the five-year period of adverse use has been attained, the prescriptive right to continue the use of the way has been established, Burnett v. Jayo, 119 Idaho 1009, 1012, 812 P.2d 316, 319 (Ct.App.1991), and there is no need to couple or to tack the use by the predecessor to any use by the claimant. When an easement of way by adverse use is thus created, it becomes fixed as an appurtenance to the real property which is subject to the prescriptive use and may be claimed by a successor in interest. Feldman v. Knapp, 196 Or. 453, 250 P.2d 92, 103 (1952). This principle is similar to the ripened title theory recognized by the Idaho courts in addressing a claim to quieting title gained by adverse possession. Larson v. Lindsay, 80 Idaho 242, 250, 327 P.2d 775, 780 (1958). In the absence of any evidence indicating how the Kennedys' use began, the Hawthornes invoked the rebuttable presumption that the use was adverse and under a claim of right as against the servient landowner, Colella. See West v. Smith, 95 Idaho at 557, 511 P.2d at 1333. Because the Hoglunds offered no evidence to rebut the presumption, the Hawthornes were entitled to rely on the presumption of adversity as applied to the Kennedys' use of Route 1 over the Colella property. The Hoglunds argue on appeal that the presumption from which the Hawthornes seek to benefit is not available in that, during the period when the Hawthornes' predecessors used the right of way, the servient estate was wild and unenclosed land. This argument is misplaced, however, because it does not apply where the land in question also is improved property. Cox v. Cox, 84 Idaho 513, 373 P.2d 929 (1962); Trunnell v. Ward, 86 Idaho 555, 559, 389 P.2d 221, 223 (1964). See also West v. Smith, supra , citing Trunnell for the proposition that when lands over which the prescriptive easement is claimed are wild, unenclosed, or unimproved, the presumption of adversity does not apply; it is presumed that the claimant's use was permissive. 95 Idaho at 557, n. 32, 511 P.2d at 1333, n. 32. We cannot ignore the district court's finding in this case that the Colella property was improved only by a one room cabin, a pumphouse, and a shed, possibly used for sleeping quarters. The court's finding that the Colella property was improved has not been challenged. Furthermore, the parties do not assert that characterization of property as improved, in cases of this nature, has ever required that the property be substantially improved or, indeed, improved to any other measurable degree. Thus, we conclude that the district court erred by not applying the presumption of adverse use in favor of the Hawthornes, which is applicable to improved (albeit otherwise wild or unenclosed) property. The evidence and the applicable presumptions clearly entitle the Hawthornes to a prescriptive easement over Route 1 across the Hoglunds' property.