Stratford v. Long, 430 S.W.3d 921 (Mo. Ct. App. 2014) (Prenkert, 18th Ed. p. 24-25) (Chap 23). Robert and Dora Stratford and Roger and Pamela Long own abutting parcels of land in Douglas County, Missouri. They disagreed about the ownership of a strip of land running the length of their shared boundary. It also includes a natural spring and a waterfall that flows from the spring. A good portion of the disputed area of land is Rugged. The Stratfords purchased their land in 1976 and moved onto the property in 1985. When they moved onto the land, there was an existing fence on the northwest corner of the property that bent west around the upper ledge of the waterfall. The Stratfords wrongly assumed that the fence marked the boundary line between the two Properties. The Stratfords undertook a number of projects that reflected their mistaken belief that the disputed strip of land was within their purchased plot. Sometime after 1985but well before 2005, when the Longs purchased the neighboring parcel the Stratfords installed a 1,500-foot coil that ran from their home's geothermal heat pump through the disputed land to the spring. They also constructed a berm, 374 feet in length, which separated a smaller stream from the larger spring on the property. The berm extended from the Stratfords' property into the disputed area as well, and was visible from the country road, despite the rugged and wooded nature of the land in that area. In 1997, they constructed a fence on what they understood to be their west boundary line, beginning in the southwest corner of their property and connecting to the existing fence around the waterfall on the northwest corner. The Stratfords told Russell Doran, who was the owner of what eventually became the Longs' property, that the fence was on the survey line. The Stratfords intended to establish a boundary line with the fence. The new fence ran through a pasture and was clearly visible. Doran used his property as a cattle pasture, allowing the cattle to graze up to the fence but not beyond it. Finally, the Stratfords mowed and cleared brush from the land in the disputed area at least once per year and allowed their bees to use the area to pollinate. The Longs purchased the neighboring property in 2005. Based on their own survey of the property boundary, they concluded that the Stratfords' fence and other developments encroached on their land. When they could not work out a compromise, the Stratfords filed a petition with the court to quiet title, which is an action asking the court to determine the true owner of a piece of land and to remove or "quiet" any challenges or claims to title in the land. They claimed that they had acquired title to the land through adverse possession. Under Missouri law, the statutory period for adverse possession is ten years. The Longs responded with a counterclaim seeking a declaratory judgment that the legal description in their deed marked the proper boundary of their land. Following a bench trial, the judge found in favor of the Longs, concluding that the Stratfords had not proven their adverse possession claim because their possession of the disputed area had not been actual, open, and notorious. The Stratfords appealed.

true/false questions:

1. A party who seeks to establish title to real property by adverse possession must prove that she possessed the land, and that her possession was: (1) hostile and under a claim of right; (2) actual; (3) open and notorious; (4) exclusive; and (5) continuous for a period of ten years.

2. That the Stratfords ran a long geothermal coil from their home to the spring, constructed a large 374-foot berm in part on the disputed area, and used the wooded part of the disputed area to allow their bees to pollinate, is sufficient to establish the Stratfords actually possessed the disputed area.

3. The Stratfords' actions - constructing a fence through the open, pasture part of the disputed area, maintaining of the land on their side of the fence, cutting the brush, and clearing the pasture - are insufficient to satisfy the actual possession element of adverse possession.

4. The Stratfords' construction of a fence through the open pasture, Doran's acceptance of the fence as the boundary line, and the Stratfords' construction of the 374-foot berm were sufficient to prove the Stratfords' possession of the lane was open and notorious.

5. If the Stratfords and the Longs respectively owned the highest level of unfettered general rights associated with real estate, their title would be classified as fee simple defeasible.