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Railway company acquired fee simple, not an easement, in 1871 land grant, defeating reversion claim.
The defendants moved for partial summary judgment seeking a declaration that they owned a parcel of land formerly used as a railway line.
The railway company had acquired the land in 1871 and sold it to the plaintiff municipality in 2007 after discontinuing railway operations.
The defendants argued the railway only ever held an easement that extinguished upon abandonment, causing the land to revert to them as successors of the original owner.
The court dismissed the motion, finding that the applicable 19th-century railway legislation and the original conveyance document granted the railway a fee simple interest, which it validly transferred to the plaintiff.
The court granted a Certificate of Pending Litigation to protect the plaintiff's claim for specific performance of a property repurchase agreement.
The Plaintiff, Elizabeth Samuel, brought a motion for a Certificate of Pending Litigation (CPL) against a property she had previously transferred to the Defendant, Omotayo Ore Muti, which was subsequently mortgaged to Wolfson Law Professional Corporation.
The Plaintiff sought to enforce an agreement to repurchase the property.
The court granted the CPL, finding a triable issue regarding the Plaintiff's interest in the land and that the equities favored registration, despite concerns about the Plaintiff's diligence and compliance with prior orders.
The court also expressed concerns about the non-arms-length nature of the mortgage transaction between the Defendant and his former lawyers, Wolfson Law.
