Chapter 7 - § 7.3 • RIGHT, TITLE, OR INTEREST

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 7.3 • RIGHT, TITLE, OR INTEREST

For an adverse claimant to initiate a civil action under the federal Quiet Title Act, the claimant must have title or a claim of ownership of the property at issue. Though the statute includes "right, title or interest" as possible claims,¹³ courts have not allowed claims for simply an "interest" in property, such as private parties' public road claims, as grounds for a civil action under the federal Quiet Title Act. In Southwest Four Wheel Drive Ass'n v. Bureau of Land Management,¹⁴ the court held that users of off-highway vehicles had no right of action to seek quiet title to alleged easements on federal government property because users, like other members of the public, held no title to any public roads. However, the federal Quiet Title Act was held to be the exclusive means by which parties could claim prescriptive easements over real property owned by the United States.¹⁵

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Notes:

^[13] 28 U.S.C. § 2409a(d).

^[14] 363 F.3d 1069 (10th Cir. 2004); see also Staley v. United States, 168 F. Supp. 2d 1209 (D. Colo. 2001); Kinscherff v. United States, 586 F.2d 159 (10th Cir. 1978).

^[15] Schilling v. Wis. Dep't of Natural Res., 298 F. Supp. 2d 800 (W.D...