- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 17/Jul 14:12

Court rules on Mayaro land dispute

A property holding company has won a major court case over a 7.7-acre piece of land in Mayaro. In a ruling on July 16, Justice Ricky Rahim ruled that the land rightfully belongs to the company, Syamrish Holdings Ltd. The court rejected all claims by three defendants and cleared the way for Syamrish to take full control of the land. The dispute involved Travis Rattansingh, Ramkarran Ramparas, and Clarissa Rodulfo. Rodulfo, the common-law wife of the late Julian Boodhan, received the land as a gift in 2005. She later sold it to Ramparas, who then sold it to Rattansingh. But Syamrish said the land was part of their estate and never belonged to Boodhan. After reviewing old deeds, maps, surveys, and satellite photos, the judge agreed with Syamrish. He ruled that the land had always been part of the Syamrish estate and was never included in the 63 acres that Boodhan had bought. Rahim also found that the gift deed to Rodulfo was based on a mistaken idea of where the land’s boundaries were, making it invalid. Rahim looked at whether the defendants had used the land long enough to claim ownership through the law on adverse possession. This law allows someone to gain ownership by openly using land for more than 16 years without being challenged. But the judge said this didn’t apply here. Evidence showed that while some trees were cleared in the late 1990s, all work had stopped by 2005. After Boodhan died in 2017, there was no sign of anyone using the land. This broke any claim of long-term occupation. Rahim also dismissed an additional claim made by Rattansingh against Ramparas. Rattansingh said he was misled into buying the land because Ramparas didn’t tell him about Syamrish’s claim. The court found that Ramparas knew there was a serious dispute over the land and didn’t fully tell Rattansingh. Still, the judge noted that Rattansingh also failed to do his own checks as he did not hire a surveyor or do a new title search before buying. Because of this, Rahim said both men were partly to blame, and the claim was dismissed. In his ruling, Rahim declared Syamrish as the rightful owner of the land. He also ordered all land deeds connected to Rodulfo, Ramparas, and Rattansingh to be canceled. Rattansingh must leave the property and cannot return. In his ruling, Rahim ordered damages for trespass to be paid to Syamrish by Ramparas and Rattansingh. Syamrish was awarded legal costs, while each party will cover their own costs related to the ancillary claim between Rattansingh and Ramparas. Rodulfo was found in default for not participating in the case, and judgment was granted against her. The post Court rules on Mayaro land dispute appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.