Opinion ID: 693463
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Contours of the Government's Claim

Text: 22 The Fadems' only apparent notice of the Government's claim to the property in question included the reservoir permit dispute and the road construction. Both of these incidents related solely to the eastern section of the disputed property. Notice that the Government claimed the western section did not occur until the survey was approved in 1980. However, the district court, relying on Knapp v. United States, 636 F.2d 279 (10th Cir.1980), held that the Fadems' entire QTA claim was time-barred because they had notice of the contours of the Government's claim. 23 In Knapp, the plaintiffs brought suit pursuant to the QTA challenging the United States' claim to a forty-eight acre parcel of land. Although the land had been transferred to the United States pursuant to a deed filed in 1939 which described the entire forty-eight acres, the plaintiffs alleged that the deed's description was a mutual mistake of fact and that the deed actually intended only to transfer enough land for an easement. Id. at 282. The district court accepted this allegation as true and concluded that the United States' claim to more than the easement did not arise until 1971 when it approved a survey covering the disputed land. Id. The Tenth Circuit reversed the district court. It noted that a claim under the QTA accrues when a plaintiff knew or should have known of the United States' claim, but it held that [k]nowledge of the claim's full contours is not required. All that is necessary is a reasonable awareness that the Government claims some interest adverse to the plaintiff's. Id. at 283. 24 The district court in this case also relied on Park County, Montana v. United States, 626 F.2d 718 (9th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1112, 101 S.Ct. 923, 66 L.Ed.2d 841 (1981), to conclude the Fadems had notice of the Government's entire claim. In Park County, the Forest Service placed a sign and rock barrier across a right-of-way, prohibiting motor vehicle traffic. Id. at 720-21. The claimants argued this sign only gave it notice of the United States' title claim to the road extending beyond the sign. However, we rejected this argument, holding that notice of the United States' claim to a section of the right-of-way should have put the [claimants] on constructive notice and alerted them to make reasonable inquiry as to the remainder of the purported right-of-way since the remainder would have little or no remaining utility if it were severed. Id. at 721 n. 6. 25 Although we agree that precise knowledge of the entirety of the United States' claim is not necessary in order for a claimant to have notice of that claim, we hold that application of the contours doctrine established by Knapp is improper in this case. In Knapp, the 1939 deed to the United States described the entire forty-eight acres in dispute. Even though the claimants alleged the deed was based on a mutual mistake, it did give them notice that the United States could potentially claim a larger interest than an easement; the extent of a possible federal claim was dictated by the terms of the deed. Conversely, in this case, until the Government approved the survey, the Fadems knew only that the Government claimed title to the eastern section. There was no evidence, such as the deed in Knapp, to give the Fadems notice the Government would assert a claim to the western section. Likewise, Park County is distinguishable from this case because, unlike a right-of-way which would have no utility if severed, the utility of the western section is not injured by the United States' possession of the eastern section. 26 No investigation by the Fadems prior to the approval of the survey in 1980 would have disclosed the United States' claim to the western section of the disputed land because the United States did not know that it had a claim to that strip until the survey was approved. Therefore, we hold that, at least until approval of the survey in 1980, the Fadems did not have constructive notice of the Government's claim to the western section. 27 The judgment of the district court is REVERSED and the case REMANDED for further proceedings. No costs allowed.