Box v. United States of America et al

Filing 22

ORDER granting defendants' 14 Motion to Dismiss by Judge Robert S. Lasnik.(RS)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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_______________________________________
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PRISCILLA BOX,
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Plaintiff,
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v.
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al.,
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Defendants.
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_______________________________________)

No. C16-1412RSL
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’
MOTION TO DISMISS

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This matter comes before the Court on defendants’ “Rule 12(b)(1) Motion to Dismiss

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Amended Complaint.” Dkt. # 14. Having reviewed the memoranda, declarations, and exhibits

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submitted by the parties, the Court finds as follows:

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A. STANDARD OF REVIEW

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Defendants assert that the applicable statutes of limitations, 28 U.S.C. § 2409a(g) and 28

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U.S.C. § 2401, bar plaintiff’s claims. Because both limitations periods are jurisdictional (see

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Block v. N.D. ex rel. Bd. of Univ. & Sch. Lands, 461 U.S. 273, 292 (1983); John R. Sand &

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Gravel Co. v. U.S., 552 U.S. 130, 132, 136 (2008)), the Court may consider facts outside of the

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four-corners of the complaint to assure itself that it does, in fact, have the power to hear this

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matter. Americopters, LCC v. Fed. Aviation Admin., 441 F.3d 726, 732 n.4 (9th Cir. 2006). The

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Court has, therefore, considered the declarations and evidence submitted by the parties.

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ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’
MOTION TO DISMISS

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B. BACKGROUND
Taken in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, the record shows that, in 1951, Nina

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Brewer, was the owner of a parcel of land in Redmond, Washington. Brewer entered into a real

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estate contract to sell the property to M. Talmage Nelson for $8,750.00. Nelson paid $2000.00 at

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the time of contracting and promised to pay $50.00 per month thereafter until the balance was

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paid off. Neither party has produced a deed conveying the property from Brewer to Nelson.

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In 1954, the United States initiated a takings action to acquire fee simple title to the

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property and surrounding parcels for use as a missile defense site. A preliminary certificate of

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title showed that Nelson had acquired title through the 1951 contract and a 1953 deed. Dkt. # 14-

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8. Nelson was named as the owner in the takings action and, in August 1958, the court fixed just

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compensation, ordered payment of $2,875.00 to Nelson, and conveyed fee simple title in the

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property to the United States. Dkt. # 14-5. Brewer died intestate in 1960.

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The United States openly and obviously possessed, controlled, and used the property as

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part of a missile defense site until 1974, when it licensed the property to the Washington Army

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National Guard as an armory and training facility. In 2007, the King County Finance Division

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sought information for use in a judicial tax foreclosure proceeding. Pacific Northwest Title

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Company reported that the property was owned by Nina Brewer, as her separate estate. Dkt. # 16

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at 21. Brewer’s sole heir was notified that he owned property in Redmond and petitioned to have

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himself appointed administrator for his great-grandmother’s estate. The heir (and personal

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representative) conveyed the property to Wayne Seminoff in 2011, who transferred the property

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by quit claim deed to Priscilla Box, the named plaintiff in this case.

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C. QUIET TITLE CLAIM

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Through the Quiet Title Act, the United States waives its sovereign immunity from claims

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challenging the federal government’s title to land. The waiver is conditioned, however, on suit

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being brought within twelve years of “the date the plaintiff or his predecessor in interest knew or

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ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’
MOTION TO DISMISS

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should have known of the claim of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2409a(g). Plaintiff argues that

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the limitations period did not begin to run until 2007 when Brewer’s heir became aware of his

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interest in the land. A similar argument was rejected in Fidelity Expl. and Prod. Co. v. U.S., 506

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F.3d 1182, 1186 (9th Cir. 2007) (finding that plaintiff’s argument “that the twelve-year clock

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should start when [it] knew of its own claim, not when Montana - its predecessor in interest -

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knew of the United States’ claim” was inconsistent with the plaint text of the statute) (emphasis

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in original). A claim under the Quiet Title Act accrues when the landowner knew or should have

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known that the United States had claimed the land, not when the landowner realizes he has a

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claim. Congress imposed a condition on the waiver of sovereign immunity, and the Court must

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“be careful not to interpret it in a manner that would extend the waiver beyond that which

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Congress intended.” Block, 461 U.S. at 287. Expanding the limitations period until a neglectful

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(or, at best, disinterested) landowner discovers his own interests in land that the United States

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long ago claimed as its own would contravene the terms of the waiver.

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D. TAKINGS CLAIM

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Plaintiff concedes that her claim for just compensation is barred by the limitations period
set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 2401.

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For all of the foregoing reasons, defendants’ motion to dismiss (Dkt. # 14) is GRANTED.
The Clerk of Court is directed to enter judgment in favor of defendants and against plaintiff.

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Dated this 4th day of January, 2017.

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A

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Robert S. Lasnik
United States District Judge

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ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’
MOTION TO DISMISS

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