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| Property law |
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| Part of thecommon law series |
| Types |
| Acquisition |
| Estates in land |
| Conveyancing |
| Future use control |
| Nonpossessory interest |
| Related topics |
| Othercommon law areas |
Higher category:Law andCommon law |
Anaction to quiet title is alawsuit brought in acourt havingjurisdiction over property disputes, in order to establish a party's title toreal property, or personal property having a title, of against anyone and everyone, and thus "quiet" any challenges or claims to the title.
This legal action is "brought to remove acloud on the title" so that plaintiff and those inprivity with them may forever be free of claims against the property.[1] The action to quiet title resembles other forms of "preventive adjudication," such as thedeclaratory judgment.[2]
This genre of lawsuit is also sometimes called either atry title,trespass to try title, orejectment action "to recover possession of land wrongfully occupied by a defendant."[3]
It comprises a complaint that the ownership (title) of a parcel of land or other real property is defective in some fashion, typically where title to the property is ambiguous – for example, where it has been conveyed by aquitclaim deed through which the previous owner disclaims all interest, but does not promise that good title is conveyed. Such an action may also be brought to dispel arestraint on alienation or another party's claim of anonpossessory interest in land, such as aneasement by prescription.
Other typical grounds for complaint include:
Unlike acquisition through adeed of sale, a quiet title action will give the party seeking such relief nocause of action against previous owners of the property, unless the plaintiff in the quiet title action acquired its interest through a warranty deed and had to bring the action to settle defects that existed when the warranty deed was delivered.
Not all quiet title actions "clear title" completely. Some states have a quiet title action for the purpose of clearing aparticular, known claim, title defect, or perceived defect. This is contrasted with title registration which settles all title issues, both known and unknown. Quiet title actions are always subject to attack and are particularly vulnerable to jurisdictional challenges, both subject matter and personal, even years after final court decree in the action. It usually takes 3–6 months depending on the state where it is done.
A quiet title action is also subject in manygeographic jurisdictions, to aStatute of Limitations. Thislimitations of action is often 10 or 20 years.[citation needed]