Farm Credit Bank of St. Paul v. Martinson

MESCHKE, Justice.

Farm Credit Bank of Saint Paul obtained a judgment evicting Oscar Martinson from a section of farmland. Oscar appeals, arguing that his past improvements and some continued use of the land gave him a “title by occupancy” that was not defeated by foreclosure of a mortgage against his mother, the mortgagor. We affirm.

In 1981, Agnes Martinson mortgaged her 1,280-acre farm in Dickey County to the Bank for a loan of $241,000. Continuing a farming arrangement begun in 1977, Agnes leased part of the farm to John Martinson and Oscar Martinson, her sons, until the mid 1980s. Then,…