Johnson v. Kaster

• Decision Date: 19 December 2001
• Docket Number: No. 99-1689.,99-1689.
• Citation: 637 N.W.2d 174
• Parties: Raymond D. JOHNSON and Carol A. Johnson, Appellants, v. Anthony Joe KASTER and Janice Marie Kaster, Appellees.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

637 N.W.2d 174

Raymond D. JOHNSON and Carol A. Johnson, Appellants, v. Anthony Joe KASTER and Janice Marie Kaster, Appellees.

No. 99-1689.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

December 19, 2001.

Sidney F. Drake, Centerville, for appellants.

Robert Kohorst of Kohorst Law Firm, Harlan, for appellees.

STREIT, Justice.

Although movable, a mobile home can sink deep roots. This case involves a parcel of land that has been used for over thirty years by people who do not have title to the property. Anthony and Janice Kaster, and their predecessors in title, have positioned a mobile home partially on their neighbors' property for over thirty years. Raymond and Carol Johnson currently own the disputed property and challenge Kasters' right to infringe in this way. Johnsons claim the district court erred when it found Kasters created an easement in the disputed property. They further challenge the dismissal of their petition to recover real estate. Finally, Johnsons challenge both the nature and extent of the easement the district court granted to Kasters. Because we find Kasters established a prescriptive easement and Johnsons may not now challenge the court's authority to award an easement limited in duration, we affirm.

I. Facts

This dispute involves two parcels of land located adjacent to one another in the town of Moravia, Iowa. The first parcel, Lot 25, and the mobile home are owned by Kasters and were acquired by them in 1994 from Everett Long. The mobile home is also, in part, positioned on a bordering parcel of land owned by Johnsons. Johnsons acquired this property from CMC Heartland Partners in 1998 by quit claim deed. The disputed property is the area of Johnsons' property onto which Kasters' mobile home extends ("disputed property"). Originally, the disputed property was part of the railroad right of way acquired by Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. The disputed area occupied by the mobile home and yard measures sixty by seventy-five feet.

Johnsons filed a petition under Iowa Code chapter 646 (1999), asking that they be declared the owners of the disputed property. They further requested Kasters be ousted from the property. Kasters answered this petition raising affirmative defenses of adverse possession and easement by prescription.

At trial, Joe Kaster testified that years ago Rex Angel, a predecessor in title to the Kaster property, told him he owned the disputed property. Over Johnsons' hearsay objection, the trial court allowed the testimony under Iowa Rule of Evidence 803(23).

After the trial, the district court dismissed Johnsons' petition and awarded Kasters an easement over the disputed property. The court found there had been a mobile home on the property for at least twenty years prior to Johnsons' acquisition of the land. The court found Kasters had a claim of right to the property. Rather than finding the easement runs with the land, the court permitted Kasters to continue placement of the mobile home, garage, outbuildings and appurtenances as long as Kasters continued to use the mobile home as their primary residence.

Johnsons appeal, asserting the district court erred in: (1) admitting the hearsay testimony of Angel; (2) finding Kasters established a prescriptive easement; (3) dismissing Johnsons' petition; (4) granting Kasters a "personal" easement; and (5) incorrectly defining the nature and extent of the easement.

II. Scope of Review

The parties have not agreed on the scope of our review. Johnsons contend the scope of review is at law as to their claim the trial court erred in dismissing the petition to recover real estate. As to their other claims, Johnsons believe the appropriate scope of review is in equity. Kasters argue the scope of review is at law.

Generally, we will hear a case on appeal in the same manner in which it was tried in the district court. Davis-Eisenhart Mktg. Co., v. Baysden, 539 N.W.2d 140, 142 (Iowa 1995). The appropriate scope of review for the challenge to the trial court's dismissal of the petition to recover real estate is at law. Iowa Code § 646.1 (1999). The trial court's findings carry the force of a special verdict and are binding on us if supported by substantial evidence. Meyers v. Delaney, 529 N.W.2d 288, 289-90 (Iowa 1995); Iowa R.App. P. 14(f)(1). If the findings are ambiguous, they will be construed to uphold, not defeat, the judgment. Byers v. Contemporary Indus. Midwest, Inc., 419 N.W.2d 396, 397 (Iowa 1988). All of the other claims will be reviewed in equity and as such our review is de novo. Iowa R.App. P. 4. We have the responsibility to examine the facts as well as the law and decide anew the issues properly preserved. Fencl v. City of Harpers Ferry, 620 N.W.2d 808, 811 (Iowa 2000) (citing Rouse v. Union Township, 530 N.W.2d 714, 716 (Iowa 1995)). We give weight to the district court's findings of fact, but we are not bound by these findings. Perkins v. Madison County Livestock & Fair Ass'n, 613 N.W.2d 264, 267 (Iowa 2000). "[W]e are especially deferential to the district court's assessment of witness credibility." Id.

III. Merits

In response to Johnsons' petition, Kasters claimed affirmative defenses based on adverse possession and easement by prescription. The trial court determined Kasters, through their predecessors, maintained possession of the disputed property for over ten years and under a claim of right. The district court granted Kasters an easement in the disputed property not to run with the land. Johnsons claim there was insufficient evidence to establish an easement of any kind in the Johnson property. We must determine what right, if any, Kasters have to use and possess the disputed property.

A. Nature of Kasters' Interest in the Disputed Property

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.

1. Claim of Right

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...