SSB 3032 (LSB 5376XC (2) 86)

SENATE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY BILL BY CHAIRPERSON SODDERS)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to attorney fees and court costs in an action to quiet title after a request for a quitclaim deed.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 649.5, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   649.5  Demand for quitclaim —— attorney fees.
   1.  If a party, twenty days or more before Before bringing suit to quiet a title to real estate, requests of a party may make a written request to the person holding an apparent adverse interest or right therein the execution of a in the property asking that such person, and that person’s spouse if any, execute, have acknowledged, and deliver a quitclaim deed thereto, and also tenders to the person one dollar and twenty-five cents to the property to such requesting party.
   2.  The written request described in subsection 1 shall include a draft quitclaim deed to the property, a copy of this section, a self-addressed stamped envelope, and fifty dollars to cover the expense of the execution, acknowledgment, and delivery of the deed, and if.
   3.  If the person refuses or neglects holding an apparent adverse interest or right in the property fails to comply within twenty days of receiving the written request, the filing of a disclaimer of interest or right shall not avoid the costs in an action afterwards brought, and the court may, in its discretion, if the plaintiff succeeds, assess, in addition to the ordinary costs of court, an a reasonable attorney fee for plaintiff’s the requesting party’s attorney, not exceeding twenty-five dollars if there is but a single tract not exceeding forty acres in extent, or a single lot in a city, involved, and forty dollars, if but a single tract exceeding forty acres and not more than eighty acres. In cases in which two or more tracts are included that may not be embraced in one description, or single tracts covering more than eighty acres, or two or more city lots, a reasonable fee may be assessed, not exceeding, proportionately, those provided for in this section.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill makes changes to Code section 649.5, relating to attorney fees and court costs for a party who succeeds in an action to quiet title and who requested a quitclaim deed from the party holding an apparent adverse interest prior to bringing the action to quiet title.
   Under current law, if the defendant in an action to quiet title appears before the court and disclaims all right and title adverse to the plaintiff, the defendant recovers the defendant’s costs. However, if 20 days prior to bringing suit, the party seeking to quiet title requests a quitclaim deed from the party holding an apparent adverse interest, and the adverse party refuses to deliver the requested quitclaim deed, the adverse party cannot avoid the costs of the action by disclaiming all right and title in the property. Instead, if the plaintiff succeeds, the court has the discretion to assess the ordinary costs of court and an attorney fee for the plaintiff’s attorney. The attorney fee cannot exceed $25 if the property in dispute is only a single tract not exceeding 40 acres or is a single lot in a city. The attorney fee cannot exceed $40 if the property in dispute is only a single tract greater than 40 acres but less than 80 acres. If the property is two or more tracts which are not contained in a single description, or a single tract covering more than 80 acres, or two or more city lots, the attorney fee is a reasonable fee, not to exceed, proportionally, the attorney fees with a specified dollar amount.
   The bill amends current law to specify that the court may assess a reasonable attorney fee, regardless of the size of the property or the number of tracts or lots.
   Under current law, when a party requests a quitclaim deed, the party must provide $1.25 to the person with an apparent adverse interest to cover the expense of the execution and delivery of the deed. The bill provides that the party requesting the quitclaim deed provide $50 to the person with an apparent adverse interest to cover the expense of the execution, acknowledgment, and delivery of the deed. The bill also requires the person making the request for the quitclaim deed to do so in writing, and to include, in addition to the $50, a draft of the quitclaim deed, a copy of Code section 649.5, and a self-addressed stamped envelope.