COLUMBUS — Forty-one years ago, William and Roselyn Evanich of Elyria made a mistake and put up a fence and landscaping on their neighbors’ property.

The blunder went undiscovered until 2002, when the neighbors had the land surveyed — and, finding out it was theirs, wanted it back.

On Tuesday, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Evaniches could keep the land, since they’ve treated it as their own for so long.

The strip of land, located on Windward Drive, is less than a hundredth of an acre and juts slightly into an adjacent lot.

According to court documents, the Evaniches didn’t know they were encroaching on somebody else’s land in 1967 when they put up a border of split-rail fencing, railroad ties and sandstone blocks and planted shrubs.

In 1977, neighbors Steven and Margaret Bridge moved in but didn’t realize they could stake a claim to the small strip until the survey was done in 2002. They asked the Evaniches to vacate the strip, but the Evaniches refused.

The Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling upheld a 9th District Court of Appeals decision saying that the Evaniches gained control of the land through a rule called “adverse possession.”

The rule says that if a person has control of a piece of land for 21 years or more, they effectively own it, no matter what any map or survey might show.

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.
You must be registered and logged in to post a comment. If you aren't already registered, click here.
If you are registered, click here to log in.
Need help? Email Us.