Melanie B. Cahill v. Margaret P. Morrow

Summary

The Rhode Island Supreme Court vacated the Washington County Superior Court’s judgment that granted title to lot 19 by adverse possession, holding that the plaintiff’s 1997 offer to purchase the property interrupted the requisite claim of right and hostility, and that post‑1997 evidence cannot support the adverse‑possession claim. The Court remanded for further fact‑finding limited to pre‑1997 conduct. Justice FLAHERTY dissented, arguing the offer does not defeat the claim and would have affirmed the judgment.