McGlashan v. Snowden
McGlashan v. Snowden
Opinion of the Court
Appellant Peter McGlashan and appellee Terrell Snowden own adjacent lots of real property of 22.11 and 26.173 acres, respectively, in the Millwood Plantation development in Ware County, Georgia. McGlashan contracted to build a home on his lot and took exclusive possession of the completed home shortly after July 16, 2010. In March-April 2011, McGlashan discovered that his home was constructed on the lot owned by Snowden, encroaching 1.11 acres onto Snowden’s lot. After being informed by McGlashan of the encroachment, Snowden filed a complaint for ejectment, seeking to recover possession of his lot and the dwelling house and improvements located on it as well as damages for trespass, and seeking to be awarded fee-simple title to the home and improvements.
The sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred when it granted summary judgment to Snowden on McGlashan’s counterclaim for equitable unjust enrichment.
Judgment affirmed.
It is undisputed that Snowden, living in Florida, had no knowledge of the construction on his property until McGlashan informed him of the encroachment. Compare Ga. Railroad & Banking Co. v. Hamilton, 59 Ga. 171 (1877) (railroad was estopped from denying Hamilton’s title and recovering Hamilton’s house since officials knew Hamilton was building on railroad land and did not object, and Hamilton acted in good faith).
For this reason, we do not in any way address the propriety of the trial court’s rulings on other matters such as the proper ownership of the home in question or McGlashan’s alleged “good faith” in building the home in a manner that encroached upon Snowden’s property. See, e.g., Small v. Irving, 291 Ga. 316 (729 SE2d 323) (2012); OCGA § 44-11-9 (a).
Reference
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- McGLASHAN v. SNOWDEN
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