Bartlett v. Calhoun
412 So.2d 597 (1982)
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Rule of Law:
A successor by particular title who is in bad faith may not tack their possession to that of their good faith author to acquire ownership of immovable property through the ten-year acquisitive prescription; both possessions must meet all statutory requirements, including good faith.
Facts:
- W.C. Thompson and his wife were the original owners of a 300-acre tract of land in Catahoula Parish.
- On November 30, 1949, the Thompsons purportedly sold this tract to Stella Calhoun.
- The heirs of the Thompsons allege that the signatures on the 1949 act of sale to Calhoun were forged.
- On December 10, 1949, Calhoun sold the property to Grey Ramon Brown.
- In October 1951, Calhoun re-purchased the property from Brown.
- Calhoun has remained in possession of the property since her re-purchase in 1951.
Procedural Posture:
- The heirs of W.C. Thompson filed a petitory action against Stella Calhoun in the district court (trial court) in 1977, seeking to establish ownership of a 300-acre tract of land.
- Calhoun filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting she had acquired the property through ten-year acquisitive prescription.
- The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Calhoun, ruling that her personal good or bad faith was not a material fact.
- The Thompson heirs, as appellants, appealed the decision to the Louisiana Court of Appeal.
- The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's judgment in favor of Calhoun, the appellee.
- The Thompson heirs, as applicants, petitioned the Supreme Court of Louisiana for a writ of certiorari, which was granted.
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Issue:
Does Louisiana law permit a successor by particular title who is in bad faith to tack their possession to that of their good faith author in order to acquire ownership through ten-year acquisitive prescription?
Opinions:
Majority - Blanche, Justice
No. A successor by particular title, such as a purchaser, cannot tack their bad faith possession to their author's good faith possession to satisfy the ten-year acquisitive prescription requirement. The court distinguished between universal successors (heirs), who continue the deceased's possession with its virtues and vices, and successors by particular title (purchasers), who commence a new possession. For a particular successor to tack possession for the ten-year prescription, both their possession and their author's possession must independently satisfy all statutory requirements, including good faith. A bad faith possessor can only tack their possession to their author's for the thirty-year acquisitive prescription. By overturning long-standing jurisprudence, the court concluded that Calhoun's status as a good or bad faith possessor is a material fact essential to her claim, requiring the case to be remanded.
Dissenting - Marcus, Justice
Yes. A bad faith possessor should be permitted to tack their possession to that of their good faith author to acquire ownership by the ten-year acquisitive prescription. The Civil Code provides that prescription accrues after ten years as long as possession commenced in good faith, and subsequent bad faith does not prevent it. This interpretation has been the law of Louisiana for over 140 years since Devall v. Choppin, and there is no compelling reason to change it. Under this established rule, prescription began when the good faith possessor, Grey Brown, acquired the property in 1949, and Calhoun completed the ten-year period in 1959 by tacking her possession to his. Therefore, the summary judgment in her favor was correct and should have been affirmed.
Analysis:
This case significantly altered Louisiana property law by overturning a jurisprudential rule that had stood for over a century. The decision clarifies the requirements for tacking possession, drawing a sharp distinction between universal and particular successors. By holding that each possessor in a chain of particular title must independently satisfy the good faith requirement for ten-year prescription, the court made it more difficult for purchasers with knowledge of title defects to acquire ownership through the shorter prescriptive period. This ruling reinforces the good faith requirement as a personal attribute of each possessor and prevents a 'cleansing' of bad faith through a transfer from a good faith author.
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