House File 371 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 371 BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 31) A BILL FOR An Act relating to attorney fees and court costs in an action 1 to quiet title after a request for a quitclaim deed. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1770HV (4) 87 jh/sc

H.F. 371 Section 1. Section 649.5, Code 2017, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 649.5 Demand for quitclaim —— attorney fees. 3 1. If a party, twenty days or more before Before bringing 4 suit to quiet a title to real estate, requests of a party 5 may make a written request to the person holding an apparent 6 adverse interest or right therein the execution of a in the 7 property asking that such person, and that person’s spouse 8 if any, execute, have acknowledged, and deliver a quitclaim 9 deed thereto, and also tenders to the person one dollar and 10 twenty-five cents to the property to such requesting party. 11 2. The written request described in subsection 1 shall 12 include a draft quitclaim deed to the property, the street 13 address of the property, a brief explanation of how the 14 apparent adverse interest or right arose, if known, and 15 why the party believes the interest or right is not a valid 16 claim against title, a copy of this section, a self-addressed 17 stamped envelope, and fifty dollars to cover the expense of the 18 execution , acknowledgment, and delivery of the deed , and if . 19 3. If the person refuses or neglects holding an apparent 20 adverse interest or right in the property fails to comply 21 within twenty days of receiving the written request , the filing 22 of a disclaimer of interest or right shall not avoid the costs 23 in an action afterwards brought, and the court may , in its 24 discretion, if the plaintiff succeeds, assess, in addition 25 to the ordinary costs of court, an a reasonable attorney 26 fee for plaintiff’s the requesting party’s attorney , not 27 exceeding twenty-five dollars if there is but a single tract 28 not exceeding forty acres in extent, or a single lot in a city, 29 involved, and forty dollars, if but a single tract exceeding 30 forty acres and not more than eighty acres. In cases in which 31 two or more tracts are included that may not be embraced in one 32 description, or single tracts covering more than eighty acres, 33 or two or more city lots, a reasonable fee may be assessed, not 34 exceeding, proportionately, those provided for in this section . 35 -1- LSB 1770HV (4) 87 jh/sc 1/ 3

H.F. 371 EXPLANATION 1 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 2 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 3 This bill makes changes to Code section 649.5, relating 4 to attorney fees and court costs for a party who succeeds in 5 an action to quiet title and who requested a quitclaim deed 6 from the party holding an apparent adverse interest prior to 7 bringing the action to quiet title. 8 Under current law, if the defendant in an action to quiet 9 title appears before the court and disclaims all right and 10 title adverse to the plaintiff, the defendant recovers the 11 defendant’s costs. However, if 20 days prior to bringing 12 suit, the party seeking to quiet title requests a quitclaim 13 deed from the party holding an apparent adverse interest, and 14 the adverse party refuses to deliver the requested quitclaim 15 deed, the adverse party cannot avoid the costs of the action 16 by disclaiming all right and title in the property. Instead, 17 if the plaintiff succeeds, the court has the discretion to 18 assess the ordinary costs of court and an attorney fee for the 19 plaintiff’s attorney. The attorney fee cannot exceed $25 if 20 the property in dispute is only a single tract not exceeding 21 40 acres or is a single lot in a city. The attorney fee cannot 22 exceed $40 if the property in dispute is only a single tract 23 greater than 40 acres but less than 80 acres. If the property 24 is two or more tracts which are not contained in a single 25 description, or a single tract covering more than 80 acres, 26 or two or more city lots, the attorney fee is a reasonable 27 fee, not to exceed, proportionally, the attorney fees with a 28 specified dollar amount. 29 The bill amends current law to specify that the court may 30 assess a reasonable attorney fee, regardless of the size of the 31 property or the number of tracts or lots. 32 Under current law, when a party requests a quitclaim deed, 33 the party must provide $1.25 to the person with an apparent 34 adverse interest to cover the expense of the execution and 35 -2- LSB 1770HV (4) 87 jh/sc 2/ 3

H.F. 371 delivery of the deed. The bill provides that the party 1 requesting the quitclaim deed provide $50 to the person with 2 an apparent adverse interest to cover the expense of the 3 execution, acknowledgment, and delivery of the deed. The bill 4 also requires the person making the request for the quitclaim 5 deed to do so in writing, and to include, in addition to the 6 $50, a draft of the quitclaim deed, the street address of the 7 property, a brief explanation of how the apparent adverse 8 interest or right arose, if known, why the party believes the 9 interest or right is not a valid claim against title, a copy of 10 Code section 649.5, and a self-addressed stamped envelope. 11 -3- LSB 1770HV (4) 87 jh/sc 3/ 3