Opinion ID: 170799
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Color of Title Act

Text: Finally, the Clingers contend that the district court erred in quieting title against them in light of a provision of the Color of Title Act, 43 U.S.C. § 1068. Section 1068 states that no patent shall issue under the provisions of this chapter ... for any tract to which there is a conflicting claim adverse to that of the applicant, unless and until such claim shall have been finally adjudicated in favor of such applicant. The Clingers maintain that [by] law, [they] could not obtain a patent for their property until the dispute with the State over the lakebed was adjudicated in favor of Clinger. Aplt's Br. at 40. This cursory argument is not persuasive. The Color of Title Act provides that the Secretary of the Interior shall issue a patent for not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres of such land upon the payment of not less than $1.25 per acre if it shall be shown to his satisfaction that a tract of public land has been held in good faith and in peaceful, adverse, possession by a claimant, his ancestors or grantors, under claim or color of title for more than twenty years, and that valuable improvements have been placed on such land or some part thereof has been reduced to cultivation. 43 U.S.C. § 1068(a). Additionally, the Secretary may issue such a patent if it shall be shown to his satisfaction that a tract of public land has been held in good faith and in peaceful, adverse, possession by a claimant, his ancestors or grantors, under claim or color of title for the period commencing not later than January 1, 1901, to the date of application during which time they have paid taxes levied on the land by State and local governmental units. Id. § 1068(b). The fact that the Clingers could not obtain a patent under the Color of Title Act while this litigation was pending does not establish that the district court erred. The district court concluded that the Clingers' property did not adjoin the lakebed. However, it did not purport to resolve any disputes between the federal government and the Clingers regarding the boundaries of their respective parcels. Thus, the Clingers' potential Color of Title Act claim against the federal government does not affect the district court's resolution of the dispute before us now.