SB 286: "An Act relating to actions to quiet title to, eject a person from, or recover real property or the possession of it, and to acquisition of real property by adverse possession; and providing for an effective date."
00SENATE BILL NO. 286 01 "An Act relating to actions to quiet title to, eject a person from, or recover real 02 property or the possession of it, and to acquisition of real property by adverse 03 possession; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 09.10.030 is amended to read: 06 Sec. 09.10.030. Actions to recover real property [IN 10 YEARS]. (a) 07 Except as provided in (b) of this section, a [A] person may not bring an action for 08 the recovery of real property, or for the recovery of the possession of it unless the 09 action is commenced within 10 years. 10 (b) An action may be brought at any time by a person whose ownership 11 interest in real property is recorded under AS 40.17 to 12 (1) quiet title to that real property; or 13 (2) eject a person from that real property. 14 (c) An action may not be maintained under this section [FOR THE
01 RECOVERY] unless it appears that the plaintiff, an ancestor, a predecessor, or the 02 grantor of the plaintiff was seized or possessed of the premises in question at some 03 time [WITHIN 10 YEARS] before the commencement of the action. 04 * Sec. 2. AS 09.45.052(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) The uninterrupted adverse notorious possession of real property [UNDER 06 COLOR AND CLAIM OF TITLE] for 20 [SEVEN] years or more is conclusively 07 presumed to give title to the property , except as against the state or the United States , 08 only if, by clear and convincing evidence, 09 (1) the possessor proves that 10 (A) the possession was uninterrupted, adverse, and notorious 11 and occurred under reasonable and good faith color and claim of title; 12 (B) the possessor paid all taxes due on the property during 13 the entire period of the possession; 14 (C) an instrument under which the possessor claimed title 15 was recorded at the time the possessor's claim of title began; 16 (D) the possessor sought and obtained, in the possessor's 17 name, all permits, licenses, or authorizations necessary for the possessor's 18 use or development of the property; 19 (E) during the period of possession, the possessor obtained 20 any surveys of the property or plats that a reasonable landowner would 21 have obtained; and 22 (F) during the period of possession, the possessor provided 23 notice that the property was private by posting to the extent that a 24 reasonable landowner would have provided the notice; or 25 (2) the possessor proves that 26 (A) the possessor owns property adjacent to the property 27 claimed by adverse possession; 28 (B) during the entire period of possession, the possessor and 29 any predecessor, ancestor, or grantor of the possessor, reasonably and in 30 good faith believed that the property claimed by adverse possession was 31 within the boundaries of the adjacent property; and
01 (C) the possessor took reasonable measures to ascertain the 02 actual boundary between the property claimed by adverse possession and 03 the adjacent property . [FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS SECTION, LAND 04 THAT IS IN THE TRUST ESTABLISHED BY THE ALASKA MENTAL 05 HEALTH ENABLING ACT OF 1956, P.L. 84-830, 70 STAT. 709, IS LAND 06 OWNED BY THE STATE.] 07 * Sec. 3. AS 09.45.052 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 08 (c) The court shall quiet title to property in favor of the possessor on proof of 09 an adverse possession claim under (a) of this section and on proof of payment by the 10 possessor to the owner of record of 11 (1) the appraised value of the property; 12 (2) the fair rental value of the property during the period of adverse 13 possession; 14 (3) damages incurred by the owner of record as a result of the adverse 15 possession or loss of the property; and 16 (4) prejudgment interest on amounts required to be paid to the owner 17 of record under (1) - (3) of this subsection. 18 (d) For purposes of determining the amount of payment under (c) of this 19 section, the cost of appraising the property shall be borne by the possessor claiming 20 the property. If more than one person has an ownership or security interest in the 21 property, the court may apportion the payment in any manner required by agreement, 22 law, or equity. If the possessor fails to make the payment within the period of time 23 set by the court, the court shall quiet title to the property claimed by adverse 24 possession in favor of the record owner. 25 (e) For the purpose of this section, land that is in the trust established by the 26 Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act of 1956, P.L. 84 - 830, 70 Stat. 709, is land 27 owned by the state. 28 * Sec. 4. APPLICABILITY. (a) AS 09.10.030, as amended in sec. 1 of this Act, applies 29 only to actions that have not been barred before the effective date of this Act by AS 09.10.030 30 as it read before the effective date of this Act. 31 (b) AS 09.45.052 as it read before the effective date of this Act applies to adverse
01 possession claims if the person claiming the property has completed at least seven years of 02 uninterrupted adverse notorious possession under color and claim of title before the effective 03 date of this Act. 04 * Sec. 5. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).