Dispute Over Outhouse Clogs Up The Courts: Armstrong v. Moore

Can the location of an outhouse grant title to a portion of the neighbour’s land? This was the smelly issue facing the Court in a matter that went through a seven day trial followed by a recent trip to the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Armstrong v. Moore, 2018 ONSC 7056, involved “the kind of dispute that occasionally flares up in cottage country,” in the words of Mr. Justice Calum MacLeod, who presided over the trial. The owners of the outhouse, the Armstrong’s, purchased their property in 2003, but the cottage itself, which lacked the modern comforts of indoor plumbing, was probably little changed since the early 1950’s. The outhouse was situated on a right of way adjacent to the Armstrong’s property, on lands owned by the Moore’s. The right of way -- but likely not the outhouse -- was also used by other cottage owners to access their cottages.