Church in land fight claims ownership through dispossession by encroachment
Published:Wednesday | April 2, 2025 | 12:07 AMTanesha Mundle/Staff Reporter
A retired United States (US) resident is suing a St Catherine church for encroaching on its property for over 20 years, and wants the church to vacate the land. But the church is contending that it has dispossessed the owner of the property by being there so long.
The church asserts that it has gained possessory rights to the land through adverse possession, arguing that there was no objection from the property owner when the church was built.
“The defendant notes that the Campbells had made no objection to the encroachment when the building was being built, and, thereafter, the Bog Walk SDA (Seventh-day Adventist) has been in continuous and open possession in all this time. Accordingly, there is dispossession by encroachment.
“The defendant considers that, to bring a claim 20 years after the claimant would have a right to object is too long ,and that the Limitation of Actions Act applies to her claim as to the land,” the church responded in its affidavit.
The case went before the Supreme Court on March 19 for its first hearing, where the church requested mediation with Campbell to resolve the dispute.
The matter will next be mentioned on November 12.
Gloria Campbell filed the claim against the SDA church last October, seeking an order for the church to hand over the empty property in Bybrook, which is 71.11 square metres.
She is also requesting compensation for mesne profits – a fee that the church would owe for occupying her property unlawfully.
According to her affidavit, the church has built a permanent structure on the land and is now in the process of constructing a wall.
NO PERMISSION
She is contending that the property jointly belonged to her and her now-deceased husband and no permission was ever sought from them or anyone with authority to build on the property.
Campbell said the church was notified on several occasions via letters from her lawyers to vacate the premises and to give up the property, but has refused.
She said that a notice to quit was served on the church on August 10, 2024 and that the church was informed that the property is needed for housing development but continues to occupy the land.
But the church, in its response, in an affidavit from Phillip Dormer, first elder, said there was no objection from Campbell when the church was being built.
He also noted that the church has since done its own survey, which reflects a suggested new boundary, and has also acquired possessory title of the portion of land on which it has encroached.
“There have been over 12 years of continuous possession of the said land area, and over seven years of being over the original boundary that is indicated on the survey; as such, the church building has been established for a long time, for over 20 years,” he said.
Domer added that the claimant, “now being desirous of a recent opportunity to do a housing development”, first objected in May of last year via letter before issuing the notice to quit last August.
However, he said further in the affidavit that, “The proper remedy available for the claimant and her husband, given that 12 years have elapsed (and clearly the seven years required), is the re-registration of her certificate of title to reflect the true boundaries.”
Attorney-at-law Clayton Lawrence is representing Campbell while the law firm, Stewart-Harrisingh, Williams and Rhoden is representing the church.