Ex Parte Powell

Monty W. Ervin and his wife Patricia D. Ervin sued to quiet the title to land they claimed to have bought through a tax sale and to eject the defendants Arthur L. Powell, Sr., and his wife Irell C. Powell from that land. The Geneva Circuit Court ruled in favor of the Ervins, after conducting a bench trial. The Court of Civil Appeals, on April 2, 1998, affirmed, with no opinion.Powell v. Ervin (No. 2980059), ___ So.2d ___ (Ala.Civ.App. 1998) (table). We granted the defendants' petition for certiorari review. We reverse and remand.

In 1927, Lula Smith purchased all of the property that is…