wa-law.org > bill > 2023-24 > HB 2140 > Original Bill
The legislature intends to make sure that property owners that have legal title to property are able to prevail in the court system against claims from people that do not own the property. Properly purchased property where the landowner pays the taxes deserves to be respected by all branches of government. The government of Washington was established to protect and maintain individual rights, with the right to own property being fundamental. This act is intended to make it so people that legally own property are protected by government systems rather than providing a pathway for people to take that property away without payment.
That all actions brought for the recovery of any lands, tenements or hereditaments of which any person may be possessed by actual, open and notorious possession for seven successive years, having a connected title in law or equity deducible of record from this state or the United States, or from any public officer, or other person authorized by the laws of this state to sell such land for the nonpayment of taxes, or from any sheriff, marshal or other person authorized to sell such land on execution or under any order, judgment or decree of any court of record, shall be brought within seven years next after possession being taken as aforesaid, but when the possessor shall acquire title after taking such possession, the limitation shall begin to run from the time of acquiring title.
Where there is a properly recorded instrument in the auditor's office of the county in which real estate is situated establishing ownership and identifiable boundaries of the property, claims on grounds of open and notorious possession cannot be used to divest the property owner of property in disputes related to line boundaries that have been mistaken by abutting or adjacent property owners.
A party who prevails against the holder of record title at the time an action asserting title to real property by adverse possession was filed, or against a subsequent purchaser from such holder, may be required to:
Reimburse such holder or purchaser for part or all of any taxes or assessments levied on the real property during the period the prevailing party was in possession of the real property in question and which are proven by competent evidence to have been paid by such holder or purchaser; and
Pay to the treasurer of the county in which the real property is located part or all of any taxes or assessments levied on the real property after the filing of the adverse possession claim and which are due and remain unpaid at the time judgment on the claim is entered.
If the court orders reimbursement for taxes or assessments paid or payment of taxes or assessments due under subsection (1) of this section, the court shall determine how to allocate taxes or assessments between the property acquired by adverse possession and the property retained by the titleholder. In making its determination, the court shall consider all the facts and shall order such reimbursement or payment as appears equitable and just.