Glowner

This is an action to quiet title. Plaintiff was the record owner of the lands in question which were sold to the state for taxes and a deed therefor made to the state in August, 1897. On November 5, 1901, a deed was made by the tax collector of Los Angeles county, where the property is situated, on behalf of the state, to the defendant, and on that day she went into possession of the entire premises under said deed, claiming title thereto, and remained in the exclusive possession thereof adverse to the whole world until the commencement of the action. She paid the taxes on the lands for the years 1902,1903, 1904 and 1905, and they were assessed to her in the year 1906 and she offered to pay the same, but the tax collector refused to accept them from her, they having already been paid by the plaintiff. It is admitted that the tax deed was void for reasons stated by the court in its findings.

The complaint is in the ordinary form, and the defendant sets up her title by tax deed and by adverse possession, both in her answer and also by cross-complaint. But the one question is presented on the appeal: Can adverse possession be established by showing that the land has been occupied…