1. An action shall not be brought against a museum for damages because of injury to or loss of property loaned to the museum more than three years from the date the museum gives the lender or claimant notice of the injury or loss or ten years from the date of the injury or loss, whichever occurs earlier.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 305B.9

  • Claimant: means a person who files a notice of intent to preserve an interest in property on loan to a museum as provided in section 305B. See Iowa Code 305B.2
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Lender: means a person whose name appears on the records of the museum as the person legally entitled to property held or owing by the museum. See Iowa Code 305B.2
  • Loan: means a deposit of property not accompanied by a transfer of title to the property. See Iowa Code 305B.2
  • Museum: includes , but is not limited to, historical societies, historic sites or landmarks, parks, monuments, and libraries. See Iowa Code 305B.2
  • person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Property: means a tangible object, animate or inanimate, under a museum's care which has intrinsic historic, artistic, scientific, or cultural value. See Iowa Code 305B.2
  • Undocumented property: means property in the possession of a museum for which the museum cannot determine by reference to the museum's records the property's owner. See Iowa Code 305B.2
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. An action shall not be brought against a museum to recover property on loan more than one year from the date the museum gives the lender or claimant notice of its intent to terminate the loan or notice of acquisition of title to undocumented property.
 3. An action shall not be brought against a museum to recover property on loan more than seven years from the date of the last written contact between the lender or claimant and the museum as evidenced by the museum’s records.
 4. A lender or claimant is considered to have donated loaned property to the museum if the lender fails to file an action to recover the property on loan to the museum within the periods specified in subsections 1 through 3.
 5. A person who purchases property from a museum acquires good title to the property if the museum represents that it has acquired title to the property pursuant to subsection 4.
 6. Notwithstanding subsections 3 and 4, a lender or claimant who was not given notice as provided in this chapter that the museum intended to terminate a loan, as provided in section 305B.6, and who proves that the museum received an adequate notice of intent to preserve an interest in loaned property, which satisfies all of the requirements of section 305B.8, within the seven years immediately preceding the filing of an action to recover the property, may recover the property or, if the property has been disposed of, the reasonable value of the property at the time it was disposed of plus interest at the legal rate.
 7. A museum is not liable at any time, in the absence of a court order, for returning property to the original lender, even if a claimant other than the lender has filed a notice of intent to preserve an interest in property. If persons claim competing interests in property in the possession of a museum, the burden is upon the claimants to prove their interest in an action in equity initiated by a claimant. A museum is not liable at any time for returning property to an uncontested claimant who produced reasonable proof of ownership pursuant to section 305B.8.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 305B Contents