Nazhma Stoltzfus Partial Ownership

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Nazhma Stoltzfus, has brought a quiet title action seeking to assert her partial ownership rights to the farm and to recover damages for wrongful exclusion and conversion. Defendant Elmer Stoltzfus is moving for summary judgment on adverse possession grounds. Elmer’s should be denied because his possession of the land does not satisfy the hostile and adverse requirement of adverse possession.

The Stoltzfus siblings, Elmer and Sabrina, inherited their parents’ farm through intestacy in 1987. Two months ago, Sabrina died and left all of her belongings to her daughter, Nazhma. Missouri courts presume that a co-tenant holds the land in the interest of all his co-tenants unless he acts unequivocally against the interest of

them. In 1987, Elmer told Sabrina that he planned to make certain renovations and repairs to the property. Sabrina told him “you do anything you want with that…farm.” Elmer’s Deposition at 2. Since then, Elmer possessed the farm in accordance with Sabrina’s rights and made all improvements in accordance with Sabrina’s partial ownership rights.
FACT SUMMARY
In 1987, Elmer Stoltzfus and his sister, Sabrina Stoltzfus, inherited their parents’ farm through intestacy. See Mo. Ann. Stat. § 474.010(2)(a) (Lexis 2016). The farm is located in Littletown, Missouri. Last year, Elmer struck gold while digging a ditch on the property. Elmer’s Deposition at 3. Last year, he contracted with Greedy Gold, a mining company, for two million dollars plus 25% in royalties in exchange for mining rights. Id. Nazhma has attempted to assert her rights twice: once, when she called Elmer to explain who she was, and again when she went to the farm. Nazhma’s Deposition at 7. Elmer responded to her call by telling her to “go to hell” and her visit by chasing her with a rifle. Id. Elmer has moved for summary judgment on adverse possession grounds.
Sabrina Stoltzfus grew up on the farm in the small town of Littletown. She was just a teenager when Elmer raped her. Id. at 6. Her parents showed no sympathy. Instead, they told Sabrina, in Elmer’s words, “to stop tellin’ tales.” Elmer’s Deposition at 4. In 1972, at age 15, Sabrina left the farm to make a better life for herself. Id. at 4. Sabrina survived a period of homelessness, got her GED and earned a full scholarship to Columbia. Nazhma’s Deposition at 4. Everything Sabrina had was earned though her hard work.
Sabrina reached out to her family through a letter he sent before her college graduation in April of 1980, when she offered a way to repair their relationship. Letter to Ma and Pa. She extended an olive branch giving her parents the choice to disinherit Elmer in order to mend their broken relationship. Id. Even after what her family put her through, Sabrina was still “willing to give [them] another chance.” Id. Her parents never responded to the letter and both were dead by 1987. Nazhma’s Deposition at 6.
Sabrina went on to graduate from Harvard Medical School and later became Chief of Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. Id. at 3. Despite all of her accomplishments, she still needed a family. She found that family in Nazhma, whom she met on a volunteer trip to Ethiopia. Id. at 2.
Like Sabrina, Nazhma had a troubled past.

Before seven, Nazhma had seen her mother raped and burned alive, her father beheaded and her brother eaten by a lion. Id. at 1. When Sabrina adopted Nazhma, she had lived alone in a cardboard and sheet metal hut for months. Id. at 2. For eighteen years, Sabrina raised Nazhma, serving as a mother and as an inspiration. With Sabrina’s support, Nazhma graduated from Colombia University’s undergraduate program and went on to New York University’s law school. Id. at 3. Two months ago, Nazhma lost her only remaining family when her mother Sabrina died of brain cancer. Id. Sabrina left everything to Nazhma. Id. at.4 Nazhma has since started two charities: Nazhma’s Center for Girls’ Education and, in memory of her late mother, the Sabrina Stoltzfus Foundation for Recovery, which provides vocational and psychological support for sexual abuse victims. Id. at 8.

After her parents’ died in 1987, Sabrina called Elmer to apologize for missing the funeral. Elmer’s Deposition at 2. During this call, he asked her if she would come work on the farm and told her about his plans to cut down trees to make a beet farm. Id. She chose to remain in New York, but gave him permission to use the farm, saying, “you do anything you want with that…farm.” Id. She was unable and unwilling to work the farm herself, due in part to her demanding career in New York and in part because she wanted to avoid Elmer. She never relinquished her rights to the

land.
Since the 1987 call, Elmer has grown crops and kept cows to make a living and pay the real estate taxes for the farm. Id. at 3. The only improvement he has made was a renovation to the barn, which only cost a few months and $25,000. Id. Now, he is seeking to “kick [his] legs up now that the Easy Street has rolled into town.” Id. at 4. Elmer never sought a deed or official title until now. Sabrina never abandoned her rights to the land. She willed these rights to Nazhma. Nazhma’s Deposition at 4.