§ 1322 [Reputation Evidence of Land Boundaries and Customs]

When people in a community have a shared understanding about where property lines are or how land has traditionally been used, that shared knowledge can be used as evidence in court.

Normally, courts do not allow hearsay evidence, which is secondhand information about what people said or believed. This rule is an exception. If a community has long held a common belief about where a boundary sits or how land customs work in that area, a court will accept that as valid evidence.

There is one important condition: the reputation must have existed before any dispute over the land started. If people only began talking about the boundary after a fight broke out, that later talk would not qualify under this rule.