1. An action based upon a claim arising or existing prior to January 1, 1980, shall not be maintained, either at law or in equity, in any court to recover real estate in this state or to recover or establish any interest in or claim to real estate, legal or equitable, against the holder of the record title to the real estate in possession, when the holder of the record title and the holder’s immediate or remote grantors are shown by the record to have held chain of title to the real estate, since January 1, 1980, unless the claimant in person, or by the claimant’s attorney or agent, or if the claimant is a minor or under legal disability, by the claimant’s guardian, trustee, or either parent, within one year from and after July 1, 1991, files in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county in which the real estate is situated, a statement in writing, which is duly acknowledged, definitely describing the real estate involved, the nature and extent of the right or interest claimed, and stating the facts upon which the claim is based.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 614.17

  • deed: is a pplied to an instrument conveying lands, but does not imply a sealed instrument; and the words "bond" and "indenture" do not necessarily imply a seal, and the word "undertaking" means a promise or security in any form. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • 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
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Iowa Code 651.1
  • State: includes any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession subject to the legislative authority of the United States. See Iowa Code 633D.2
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. For the purposes of this section, section 614.17A, and sections 614.18 through 614.20, a person who holds title to real estate by will or descent from a person who held the title of record to the real estate at the date of that person’s death or who holds title by decree or order of a court, or under a tax deed, trustee’s, referee’s, guardian’s, executor‘s, administrator’s, receiver’s, assignee’s, master’s in chancery, or sheriff’s deed, holds chain of title the same as though holding by direct conveyance.
 3. For the purposes of this section and section 614.17A, such possession of real estate may be shown of record by affidavits showing the possession, and when the affidavits have been filed and recorded, it is the duty of the recorder to index the applicable entries specified in sections 558.49 and 558.52 and to index the name of the owner in possession, as named in the affidavits, and in like manner, the affidavits may be filed and recorded where any action was barred on any claim by this section as in force prior to July 1, 1991.