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The doctrine of equitable mortgage is a long-standing form of security interest in Iowa. Although there may be an absence of a mortgage instrument or a recording, state courts often find the existence of a mortgage if clear, convincing, and satisfactory evidence indicates the parties intended to form a debtor/creditor relationship. This case involved a land transaction and whether it was more properly viewed as a sale and leaseback, with option to purchase, or as an equitable mortgage.  

Claiming ownership by adverse possession requires proof of the elements- that possession was hostile, actual, open, exclusive and continuous, for at least ten years. But, must a claim for adverse possession be based on a belief of ownership arising from the establishment of the elements? If so, can adverse possession ever arise apart from a boundary dispute? 

October 16, 2007 | Erin Herbold

Advertising billboards in farm fields are a common sight along the interstate highways. Normally, the company negotiates a long-term lease with the landowner. This case involves the ownership, operation, and maintenance of a billboard along Interstate 80. The trial court found that the billboard lease at issue was not void, because the landowners were not good faith purchasers and were on notice of the billboard. 

October 16, 2007 | Erin Herbold

In this case, the plaintiff decided to sell her home. Because she was unfamiliar with the process, she asked the defendant, a co-worker of her deceased husband to help. In the process of trying to get the house sold, an intimate relationship developed between the parties. During this three-year period, however, the plaintiff’s house never sold for the asking price of $90,000. Later, the defendant bought a home for $76,000. 

November 7, 2007 | Erin Herbold

Iowa law requires that both husband and wife sign a mortgage agreement when encumbering homestead property. That requirement was at issue in this case. 

December 3, 2007 | Erin Herbold

A prescriptive easement is an easement determined to exist by law that gives the easement holder the right to use a part of another person’s property once it has been determined that the party asserting the easement has used the property in a certain manner for a set number of years (10 years in Iowa).  This case involved a county’s assertion of an easement for a road over a strip of the plaintiff’s property.

When there is a boundary line dispute between neighboring properties, many people learn first of the doctrine of “adverse possession" - a legal principle derived from the common law under which ownership of a parcel of property (or a portion thereof) can change without payment and against the will of the owner.  However, it is not always necessary to resolve a boundary dispute through a claim of adverse possession, and its requirement of a "hostile" taking.

Overview

A recent opinion of the Iowa Court of Appeals reaffirms the principle that a restrictive covenant can be created by a plat. The court's opinion is a reminder that care must be taken in the preparation of plat maps, title opinions and when further development of lots contained in subdivisions is anticipated.

If an owner of real property fails to pay real estate taxes on the property, the possibility exists that the county may sell the property to recover the unpaid tax.  But, there are statutory procedures that must be followed for the tax-sale buyer to actually end up with legal title to the property.  Those procedures can become complicated when the tract at issue is leased to a tenant who has possession of the property – that’s what was involved in this case.  

Here, neighboring farmers claimed a right to a .3 acre parcel of land that had been operated as a railroad line.  The dispute arose when the plaintiff blocked access to a lane that the defendants had previously used to access their farm.  The plaintiff filed a quiet title action, and prevailed in the trial court.  The evidence showed revealed a deed transferring the land in question to a railroad in 1877.  The deed contained a clause specifying that if the railroad abandoned the line, the land would revert back to the grantees, their heirs and assigns.  Sometime before 1927, the railroad ha

In yet another property ownership dispute case, the court discusses what it takes to obtain ownership to property either by adverse possession or by an easement by prescription.  Here, the parties own separate tracts of real estate on opposite sides of another tract to which they both claimed ownership rights.  The plaintiffs claimed ownership based on representations made to them, payment of property taxes and use of the tract.  The defendants claimed ownership based on representations, their use and maintenance of the property, and improvements made to the property.  In 2003, the plaintif

The Iowa courts have been dealing with numerous boundary dispute cases in recent months.  A common theme (one which, apparently, many Iowans don’t understand) is that property usage is often the key to establishing property boundaries instead of a survey.  Again, that was the issue in this case.

It’s a fundamental rule of law – state tax dollars can be used to pay for improvements that benefit the public at large, but they can’t be used to pay for improvements that benefit private landowners.  Private landowners must pay for the assessed cost of the improvement that adds value to their property, and recover the extra cost upon eventual sale of the property.  That principle was at issue in this case.

May 27, 2008 | Roger McEowen

It’s a fundamental principle that most people understand – it’s not a good idea to build a barn in the middle of a road.  But, that’s exactly what happened in this case from Monroe County.  

When a property owner fails to pay property taxes, the county treasurer can sell the property for the amount of taxes, interest, fees and costs due.  At the sale, the buyer receives a “certificate of purchase” from the treasurer.   But, the property owner (and any other person with an interest of record in the property) has two years to redeem the property.  If redemption does not occur, the tax sale certificate holder is entitled to a tax deed.  But, the treasurer must give notice of the expiration of the right to redeem to the person in possession of the parcel, the tax owner of the parce

Fence law is an important aspect of rural life.  Specific rules apply to building and maintaining partition (border) fences and, on that point, Iowa law generally provides that adjacent owners share responsibility equally.  In many instances, adjoining landowners agree between themselves on issues related to building and maintaining fences.  However, if an agreement cannot be reached the township trustees, acting as the fence viewers, can be called to make a determination.  But, if they are asked to make a view, specific rules apply to appealing their decision.  That’s what was involved in

October 6, 2008 | Erin Herbold

In Iowa, landowners with landlocked real estate are entitled to access to their property via an easement by necessity. Here, neighbors executed an easement agreement permitting access to two tracts of land (the dominant estate) through the adjacent parcel (servient estate) owned by one of the neighbors. The parties agreed to share a gravel roadway located on the easement as a driveway.  After an argument regarding the placement of property lines, the owners of the servient estate constructed a speed bump on the access road, claiming safety concerns. 

October 7, 2008 | Roger McEowen

Property owners that challenge property tax assessments must file their appeals properly.  That point was made clear in this case.  

Iowa law requires real estate sellers to provide a written disclosure statement to prospective buyers that details the condition and characteristics of the property.  The law is known as the Iowa Real Estate Disclosure Act (Act), and it authorizes an aggrieved buyer to recover actual damages resulting from a violation of the Act.  But, must the buyer establish that the seller defrauded the buyer as a condition of recovering under the Act?  That was the question presented in this case.

The law of real property is old, and it traces its roots to 1066 A.D. when William of Normandy defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings and claimed all of England as his own.  William proclaimed himself King, confiscated all of the land held by the Saxon Nobles and redistributed it among his principal Norman barons.  The resulting property ownership pattern became known as the “Feudal Ladder” and remained in place until 1290 A.D.

January 5, 2009 | Roger McEowen

One of the perils of owning real estate in co-ownership is the right of a co-owner to force a partition and sale. That usually happens when one or more of the co-owners wishes to liquidate their interest or wants outright ownership of a particular portion of the co-owned property. Typically, when a partition action is entered into in an ag setting, family members are involved and the proceeding is acrimonious. There are ways to eliminate the possibility of partition, such as by owning real estate in entity form, but often those steps have not been taken.

When a mechanic’s lien is foreclosed upon and the real estate is sold, the owner of the property and lienholders have certain statutory rights of redemption.  Normally, notice of redemption rights is specified in the notice of the foreclosure sale and also the deed of foreclosure.  But, are redemption rights extinguished if such notice is not made and another party buys the property under a belief that no redemption rights existed?  That was the question involved in this case.

The Iowa Court of Appeals continues to deal with cases involving various aspects of contract law.  Recently, they have ruled (in spite of a clear statutory provision to the contrary) that a post-nuptial contract is invalid, that the purchase of a residence via sheriff’s deed was not good (allowing a lender to sit on the sidelines and create a huge problem).  Now, they have said that notice of forfeiture provisions governing a real estate contract cannot be waived via a separate written agreement which specified that the whole transaction was really was to be a gift of the property if certai

Most civil (non-criminal) lawsuits must be filed within a certain time after the date of the occurrence of the defendant’s act giving rise to the plaintiff’s claim. This is known as the statute of limitations, and if the lawsuit is filed too late, the statute can successfully defeat the plaintiff’s claim. The primary reason for the rule is fairness. Over time, memories fade and evidence is lost or never found. Generally, causes of action relating to real property have longer limitations periods than actions not involving real property.

June 1, 2009 | Erin C. Herbold

In Iowa, a mortgagor is only required to inform a “borrower” of a possible foreclosure on mortgaged property.  In this case, a homeowner sold her home to a buyer for $150,000. The buyer obtained a bank mortgage for $127,500 and a mortgage loan from the seller for $10,000. Unfortunately, the mortgage loan was not recorded.

The general rule is that real estate brokerage agreements must be in writing to be enforceable.But, sometimes deals get done without a written agreement.  When that happens, and problems arise, the outcome can be in doubt.  Here, a real estate broker sued to recover a commission he believed was owed to him after an alleged oral agreement for the sale of a sports bar. The real estate broker was a customer of the bar owner and, allegedly, the bar owner told the broker that he would pay him a ten percent commission upon the sale of the bar if he found a willing and ready buyer.

The plaintiff claimed ownership of four parcels of land via adverse possession and boundary by acquiescence. The parcels of land were each less than .2 acres and were located on the borders of the plaintiff’s property. Beginning in 1974, the plaintiff used these parcels for a variety of purposes, including the operation of a boat sale and repair shop. He placed signs for his business on the parcels, parked boats for the business, and improved the areas by planting grass seed and plants.

In this case, two neighbors disputed the location of the boundary line between their properties.  The parties had previously agreed that the defendant would sell a portion of his property to the plaintiff.  When the defendant conducted a survey, it indicated that the boundary line was where he understood it to be (defendant called this Parcel A).  The plaintiff, on the other hand, understood that the parties had an agreement that the northern boundary of the property was located where a fence stood.  The problem here was the plaintiff’s understanding of where the boundary line was located m

Arbitration is a form of “alternative dispute resolution” used to resolve legal disputes outside of court. Unlike mediation, the parties agree to be bound by the decision of the court-appointed arbitrators.  Iowa Code § 679A governs arbitration disputes in Iowa. This case involved a dispute between real estate agents over the commission to be paid upon the sale of commercial property.

When a party intentionally interferes with a valid contract, the adversely affected party may be entitled to an award of damages if the interference caused the contract to fall through. In 2001, a realtor entered into a listing and commission agreement to sell a property.  The realtor, under the agreement, was entitled to a 10% commission of the first $500,000 of the gross sales price of the property, provided he found a “ready, willing and able buyer.” When the property owner experienced financial distress, they sought to unload the property as soon as possible.

When a landowner owns a parcel of land that is landlocked, the landowner can access the property by the nearest feasible route. Iowa courts have typically refused to examine the impact on the servient estate (the land that is being crossed) when determining the location of the nearest feasible route, and that’s what happened here. 

Many small towns in Iowa are facing infrastructure issues, including old sewer lines that need to be updated. Oftentimes, there are not enough city funds to do the job correctly. In this case, a city contractor, in 1978, negligently reconnected a church’s sewer line during a water main installation project. When sewage backed up in the church in 2005, the church sustained $30,000 worth of damages. The church sued the city and the city filed a motion to dismiss the suit, asserting Iowa’s fifteen-year statute of repose.

In this case, a realty company sued a buyer of farm property, for allegedly violating a “Buyer Agency Agreement” and failing to pay the realty company a commission (the buyer actually used another realtor to complete the sale). At trial, the seller designated an expert witness to testify to the standard of conduct for real estate agents in Iowa.

Despite warnings from state officials that the Iowa Code (through the Underground Facililities Information Act (Iowa Code §480.4(1)(a)), requires contractors to notify “Iowa One-Call” at least forty-eight hours prior to commencement of an excavation project, some contractors routinely fail to heed those warnings. When a contractor notifies “One-Call” of a project, underground facility operators in the area must mark the location of their installations in the project area.

The Iowa Real Estate Disclosure Act (Iowa Code §558A) requires a person transferring real estate to disclose physical defects on the property in writing. A seller is liable for the economic damages a buyer suffers if information relating to the defect was not communicated and the damages are related to the undisclosed defect.  However, the buyer must establish that the seller’s failure to disclose was intentional. 

A simple farm access lane led to a major dispute amongst multiple parties in this case. At issue here are two parcels of land- a northern and a southern parcel.  Since 1888, the various owners of the southern parcel allowed the owners of the northern parcel access to the northern tract via the southern tract.  The northern parcel was later divided in half (hereinafter referred to as N1 and N2).

September 3, 2009 | Erin Herbold

The sale, transfer, or mortgage of a homestead in Iowa, if the homeowner is married, is invalid, unless the title owner’s spouse also signs-off on the transaction (Iowa Code §561.13).  Consequently, a mortgage that is not signed by a spouse will be declared void by the courts, and a deed that is not signed by both spouses is also void or invalid. 
   

September 3, 2009 | Erin Herbold

In 1965, a married couple purchased a parcel of ground along with a “notch” of land to the east of the parcel to expand an existing garage. The property owners began to use a strip of ground east of the newly remodeled garage until 2006.  They hauled-in eleven tons of dirt into the area east of the garage to install and level a driveway, planted nearly $20,000 of groundcover and plants to prevent erosion, and openly accessed the area several times per week.

In 1964, owners of riverfront property on the Mississippi River in northeast Iowa, subdivided the land into seventeen plots and sold 16 lots private landowners.   Each landowner (and their successors) was granted an easement to use the riverfront property they retained. Over the years, an oral agreement developed among the landowners that each lot would be allowed a one-boat dock. When the owners of the riverfront property sold the shoreline lot, the status quo continued, until 2007 when the Army Corps of Engineers (COE) approved a new dock plan for the shoreline lot.

October 22, 2009 | Erin Herbold

Here, a developer purchased nearly 35 acres of land from a private owner. The land was zoned agricultural, but was designated as a site for future single-family residential homes. Four acres of the land was designated prime agricultural land under the plan, because of the high Corn Suitability Rating (CSR). The seller and buyer, together, petitioned to have the non-prime ag land rezoned for residential development. Though the county planning and zoning commission found that the land was part of a “planned-growth” area, they nevertheless, denied the zoning application.

November 25, 2009 | Erin Herbold

Under Iowa law, if a partition fence is not located on the true boundary line and remains there for at least 10 years, it can become the boundary by default.  Iowa Code §650.14 specifies that, “If it is found that the 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.” This concept is commonly known as “boundary by acquiescence” or the “doctrine of practical location.” 

November 30, 2009 | Erin Herbold

The dispute in this case stems from a controversy between the County Conservation Board and a private landowner regarding the ownership of an old railroad right-of-way.  The Board was using the abandoned rail line as a nature trail, and the county conservation board filed a petition with the trial court to quiet title via adverse possession of the railroad right-of-way. The landowner disputed the Board’s claims, stating that he was the owner of the parcel after the railroad’s easement was extinguished.

Here, the Iowa Court of Appeals was asked to determine whether the manner of providing notice of a property owner’s right of redemption under Iowa Code §447.9  comports with constitutional due process requirements.  

In this case, the defendants purchased the plaintiff’s real estate at a tax sale.  After the tax sale, the defendants notified the plaintiff by certified and regular mail of her right to redeem the property.  But, the certified mail was returned as undelivered and the plaintiff later claimed that she had never received notice of her redemption status. 

December 28, 2009 | Erin Herbold

The essence of contract law is an offer by one party that is accepted by another party and where the contracting parties come to a “meeting of the minds” concerning the essential contract terms.  But, what if the parties are mistaken about the same material fact involving a key element of the contract?  The parties have, indeed, reached a meeting of the minds, but they are mistaken.  Can they get out of the contract?  A mutual mistake was involved in this case.

Here, the parties entered into a real estate agreement to purchase 3.7 acres of land. The real estate contract provided that the land purchase was subject to “any easements of record for public utilities, roads and highways.” The contract also provided that the sellers were responsible for obtaining an updated abstract of title, showing “merchantable title.” After closing was to occur, the buyer’s attorney prepared a title opinion noting that the property was subject to a perpetual easement and right of way for sewer in favor of the U.S. government.

The decedent, in this case, purchased a home in 1990 which he occupied as his homestead. He requested refinancing in 2003, but his application left many areas blank, including the marital status portion.  However, the decedent executed a promissory note with the bank, including a handwritten designation indicating that he was “single.” A few months later, the decedent married a woman who moved into the homestead. The next year, the decedent obtained another new loan from the same bank. This loan application was not in writing.

One of Iowa’s most litigious farm families is at it again. This time (as the plaintiffs in this case) they participated in a conspiracy to defraud a bank, but it didn’t work out they way they anticipated.  Here, they entered into two separate written farm lease agreements- the first with a married couple (the defendants) and the second with the couple’s son and daughter-in-law.   In total, they leased about 1000 acres of Adair County farmland for five years.  At the time the leases were executed, the defendants were in default on several bank notes with the First National Bank of Creston.

When a landowner owns a parcel of land that is landlocked, the landowner can access the property by the nearest feasible route. Iowa courts have typically refused to examine the impact on the servient estate (the land that is being crossed) when determining the location of the nearest feasible route. 

January 10, 2010 | Erin Herbold

Here, neighboring farmers claimed a right to a .3 acre parcel of land that had been operated as a railroad line.  The dispute arose when the plaintiff blocked access to a lane that the defendants had previously used to access their farm.  The plaintiff filed a quiet title action, and prevailed in the trial court.  The evidence showed revealed a deed transferring the land in question to a railroad in 1877.  The deed contained a clause specifying that if the railroad abandoned the line, the land would revert back to the grantees, their heirs and assigns.  Sometime before 1927, the railroad ha

February 23, 2010 | Erin Herbold

Here, adjacent landowners got into a battle over the proper location of a boundary line between their properties. In 2007, one of the landowners surveyed their property.  The survey revealed that the true boundary was ten feet west of the shrub/tree line that had been used as the boundary between the tracts.  The parties brought suit to quiet title to the parcel.

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