Opinion ID: 1274702
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Heading: Nature of Kasters' Interest in the Disputed Property

Text: Easements may be created in one of three ways: (1) express written grant; (2) prescription; or (3) implication. Wymer v. Dagnillo, 162 N.W.2d 514, 516 (Iowa 1968). Kasters have not claimed they have an easement by express written grant or by implication. The issue is whether Kasters have an easement by prescription. Under Iowa law, an easement by prescription is created when a person uses another's land under a claim of right or color of title, openly, notoriously, continuously, and hostilely for ten years or more. Iowa Code § 564.1; Collins Trust v. Allamakee County Bd. of Supervisors, 599 N.W.2d 460, 463 (Iowa 1999). It is based on the principle of estoppel and is similar to the concept of adverse possession. Collins Trust, 599 N.W.2d at 463 (citing Webb v. Arterburn, 246 Iowa 363, 378, 67 N.W.2d 504, 513 (1954)). We consider principles of adverse possession when determining whether an easement by prescription has been created. Collins Trust, 599 N.W.2d at 464 (citing Larman v. State, 552 N.W.2d 158, 162 (Iowa 1996)). However, the concepts of adverse possession and easement by prescription are not one and the same. Rather, easement by prescription concerns the use of property and adverse possession determines acquisition of title to property by possession. Collins Trust, 599 N.W.2d at 464. For Kasters to claim a right to continued use of the disputed property, they must show something more than use for the statutory period. They must also show they claimed an easement as of right, and this must be established by evidence distinct from and independent of their use. See id.; Iowa Code § 564.1. Finally, Kasters must show Johnsons and their predecessors in title had express notice of their claim of right to use the disputed property. See Webb, 246 Iowa at 384, 67 N.W.2d at 516. We first examine whether Kasters have a claim of right to the disputed property.
Evidence tending to show hostility and claim of right to satisfy the requirements of a prescriptive easement is of a similar nature. See Collins Trust, 599 N.W.2d at 464 (citing Burgess v. Leverett & Assoc., 252 Iowa 31, 36, 105 N.W.2d 703, 706 (1960)) (conduct which shows intention to hold title exclusive of others shows hostile possession). Hostility of possession does not imply ill will, but only an assertion of ownership by declarations or acts showing a claim of exclusive right to the land. 3 Am.Jur.2d Adverse Possession § 50, at 143 (1986). However, mere use of land does not, by lapse of time, ripen into an easement. Schaller v. State, 537 N.W.2d 738, 742 (Iowa 1995). A party claiming an easement by prescription must prove, independent of use, the easement was claimed as a matter of right. Iowa Code § 564.1; Collins Trust, 599 N.W.2d at 464 (citing Simonsen v. Todd, 261 Iowa 485, 489, 154 N.W.2d 730, 732 (1967)). Though mere use does not constitute hostility or claim of right, we have held certain acts, including maintaining and improving land, can support a claim of ownership and hostility to the true owner. See, e.g., Barnes v. Robertson, 156 Iowa 730, 733-34, 137 N.W. 1018, 1019 (1912) (where a road was legally established, used, worked, and improved, the public was acting under a claim of right); Lynch v. Lynch, 239 Iowa 1245, 1255, 34 N.W.2d 485, 490 (1948) (claim of right found where party set out trees, erected a house and buildings, enclosed premises by fence, cultivated the land, and treated land precisely as an owner). Ultimately, we must determine on a case-by-case basis whether there is evidence to support the requirements of a prescriptive easement. Collins Trust, 599 N.W.2d at 464. We now turn to the facts before us to determine whether Kasters have a claim of right to the disputed property. From as early as 1966 to the present, Kasters or their predecessors in title to Lot 25 had a mobile home on the property. In 1994, when Kasters purchased Lot 25, their lot had a nine by forty foot mobile home positioned mostly on Lot 25. However, some of the mobile home extended onto the disputed property owned by Johnsons. Kasters used this mobile home as their primary residence. In 1997, Kasters replaced the original mobile home with a sixteen by eighty foot mobile home in approximately the same location. This new mobile home extended approximately forty additional feet onto the disputed property. Since Kasters moved onto Lot 25 in 1994, they have made many uses of the disputed property. Kasters maintained the original mobile home for three years and later replaced the original mobile home with a new one in 1997. Kaster has mowed the disputed property and generally cleaned up the area since they moved in. He has torn out trees and torn down a house on the disputed property. Since Kasters acquired Lot 25, they have used a garage located almost entirely on the disputed property. The garage has since been relocated and now appears to be closer to Lot 25. In general, Kasters have treated the disputed property as any other owner of real estate might do. There is no evidence to suggest Johnsons contributed to the maintenance of the disputed property or used it for their own benefit. See Huebner v. Kuberski, 387 N.W.2d 144, 147 (Iowa Ct.App.1986) ([a] mixed, shared or scrambled possession is not exclusive and will not ripen into title). No one, other than Kasters, has maintained any portion of the disputed property. Although not necessary to establish a prescriptive easement, the nature of Kasters' acts support a claim of exclusive possession of the disputed property. Johnsons contend Kasters' use is not exclusive and as such they have failed to satisfy the requirements of a prescriptive easement. Johnsons claim people other than Kasters have been known to park cars on the disputed property. However, unlike adverse possession, continuous, adverse possession for a prescriptive easement does not mean constant use. Similarly, the use need not be exclusive. Rather, a claimant's possession need only be of a type of possession which would characterize an owner's use. 2 C.J.S. Adverse Possession § 54, at 727 (1972). Furthermore, mere casual intrusion by others on property occupied by the adverse claimant does not deprive his possession of its exclusive character.... Id. § 56, at 729-30. Since approximately 1950, when Everett Long acquired Lot 25, until the present time, Kasters and their predecessors in title have been the only people to use and maintain the neighboring disputed property. Prior to Kasters' possession of Lot 25, Long, and before him Rex Angel, owned the property. Long used the mobile home on Lot 25 as an office. Angel used Lot 25 for residential purposes. Kasters had reason to believe they owned the disputed property because of their prior observations of the use and ownership of Lot 25 by Long and Angel. The trial court found Kasters and their predecessors in title used the disputed property for more than ten years. The court further found their use was continuous in nature and open and obvious to predecessors in title to the Johnson property. In support of this finding, the trial court concluded the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railway Company was aware of both Long's and Angel's use of the disputed property for more than twenty years before Kasters even acquired Lot 25. There is evidence other portions of Johnsons' property were used by various third parties to store or dump used motor vehicles, dirt, construction vehicles and equipment, a semi-truck, and barrels. There is no evidence Kasters or their predecessors were ever interrupted in their exclusive use of the disputed property. The evidence of actual possession and use of the disputed property by Kasters and their predecessors substantiates their claim of right.
Under Iowa law the owner or the grantor is required to have express notice of any claim of adverse possession. Iowa Code § 564.1. This requirement exists to help place the true owner of land on notice of the adverse use of the land by another. See 3 Am. Jur. 2d Adverse Possession § 69, at 165-66. This requirement ensure[s] the landowner knows another's use of the property is claimed as a right hostile to the landowner's interest in the land. Otherwise, the landowner may incorrectly assume the other's use results merely from the landowner's willingness to accommodate the other's desire or need to use the land. Larman, 552 N.W.2d at 162. The notice must be actual or from known facts of such nature as to impose a duty to make inquiry which would reveal the existence of an easement. Collins Trust, 599 N.W.2d at 465 (quoting Anderson v. Yearous, 249 N.W.2d 855, 861 (Iowa 1977)); see also Webb, 246 Iowa at 383, 67 N.W.2d at 515 (notice may be express, or any notice or knowledge whatsoever that the appellants or their predecessors in title claimed the easement as a matter of right). The law imputes to a purchaser such knowledge as he would have acquired by the exercise of ordinary diligence. Thus, where the easement is open and visible, the purchaser of the servient tenement will be charged with notice.... 28A C.J.S. Easement § 114, at 297 (1996). The determination of whether Kasters complied with the express notice requirement of Iowa Code section 564.1 turns on the particular facts of the case. The use and possession of the disputed property by Kasters and their predecessors in title were confined to the same location. Since 1966, a mobile home has been located on the disputed property. Kasters replaced the mobile home on the disputed property before Johnsons' acquired their real estate. Additionally, there is evidence the owners of the disputed property prior to Johnsons were well aware of the use and possession of the disputed property by Kasters and their predecessors in title. All evidence of maintenance, use, and support of the disputed property stems back to over ten years prior to the time Johnsons acquired title in the disputed property. We have held that the ten-year continuous possession requirement may be established by tacking onto the claimant's possession time by his predecessors in interest. Burgess, 252 Iowa at 35, 105 N.W.2d at 706. When Long owned Lot 25, he also used and maintained the disputed property. Both Long and Angel made use of the disputed property regularly and openly. They both parked their cars on the disputed property and used the mobile home located on it. We conclude the use and possession of the disputed property by Kasters and their predecessors in title has been for more than the requisite ten-year period. The use was open, visible, and sufficient to put a person of ordinary prudence on notice of the fact the disputed property was held exclusively by Kasters or their predecessors in title. See 3 Am. Jur. 2d Adverse Possession § 69, at 165. Whether it was Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, CMC Heartland Partners, or Johnsons, the owners of the disputed property surely had notice of the mobile home located partially on the disputed property. Furthermore, Johnsons and their predecessors in title knew the owners of Lot 25 were exclusively using and maintaining the disputed property. We conclude the trial court properly found Kasters established the requirements for an easement by prescription. Because we find the district court's action in dismissing Johnsons' petition for recovery of real estate was supported by substantial evidence, we affirm.