Aguayo v. Amaro

In Aguayo v. Amaro (2013) 213 Cal.App.4th 1102, Division Three of this District Court of Appeal considered the issue of "whether unclean hands can serve as a defense to adverse possession by claim of right and, if so, whether the trial court abused its discretion in applying the defense in this case." (Id. at p. 1105.) Having decided that the defense was available, the appellate court concluded that the trial court acted within its discretion in denying the adverse possessor's quiet title claim based on unclean hands. (Ibid.) In that case, plaintiff Sofia Aguayo and her husband Jesus Duran Aguayo were in the business of acquiring properties by adverse possession. The property at issue had been acquired by Herman and Isabel Infante in 1946. The Infantes had raised two children in the home, Alfred and Richard. Herman died in 1969 and Isabel died intestate in 1993. (Aguayo, supra, 213 Cal.App.4th at p. 1105.)