Cedar Lane Ranch, Inc. v. Lundberg
Supreme Court of Montana
978 P.2d 315 (Mont. 1999)
In separate early-1900s conveyances, land west of a road went to Cedar Lane Ranch's (plaintiff) predecessor and land east of the road went to Carl Nelson Ranch's (defendant) predecessor, with both parties long believing the boundary allocation matched their respective acreage expectations; a 1994 state survey revealed Cedar Lane Ranch actually owned more than seven additional acres west of the highway than either party had assumed. Cedar Lane Ranch sued to quiet title to the disputed acreage, and Carl Nelson Ranch counterclaimed; the trial court granted Cedar Lane Ranch summary judgment on both the complaint and counterclaim, and Carl Nelson Ranch appealed.
Whether a real-estate seller who conveys property by boundary description, without specifying a quantity of acres, transfers the property "in gross," placing the risk of any later-discovered acreage variance on the buyer.