In Iowa, “if boundaries and corners alleged to have been recognized and acquiesced in for ten years have been so recognized and acquiesced in, such recognized boundaries and corners shall be permanently established” (Iowa Code §650.14).
Here, a married couple purchased a lot in 1961. The lot to the immediate south was owned by a church. The couple and the church decided that it would be a good idea to build a fence between the properties. The fence remained between the lots for over 46 years. In 2007, a private party bought the church lot. After a survey, the buyer discovered that the fence was incorrectly located and was encroaching on his property. The buyer notified the couple of the discrepancy and the couple offered to purchase the strip of land the buyer claimed was his. However, the buyer refused the offer and requested that the couple move the fence. The couple never moved the fence and the buyer filed a petition to quiet title in the disputed strip. The couple filed a counterclaim, asserting ownership of the parcel under the doctrine of boundary by acquiescence.
The trial court quieted title to the parcel in the new buyer based on the buyer’s argument that the church and the adjacent owners did not treat the fence as a boundary, but as merely a privacy fence. The Iowa Court of Appeals disagreed based upon the trial record and testimony of the pastor of the church and the adjacent owners. The court stated that “acquiescence exists when both parties acknowledge and treat the line as the boundary.” The burden is on the party claiming boundary by acquiescence to prove that the fence was treated as the boundary for over ten years. The reverend testified that, although the fence was initially intended as a privacy fence, it was treated as the boundary for over forty years. Both parties acquiesced and assented to the fence placement for a number of years and the buyer should have inquired as to the status of the fence upon purchase. Lenzini v. Gomez, No. 0-284/09-1257 (Iowa Ct. App., Jun. 30, 2010).