Johnson v. City of Wheat Ridge
Court of Appeals of Colorado
532 P.2d 985 (1975)
Judge Samuel Johnson deeded two parcels of land - one to the Wheat Ridge Lions Foundation and one to Jefferson County - subject to conditions requiring public-park use with water, access roads, and bathroom facilities installed within a set time; both parcels were later conveyed, with Johnson's consent, to the newly incorporated City of Wheat Ridge (defendant) subject to the same conditions. One parcel was properly improved, but the other never received the required water and bathroom facilities; Paul Johnson (plaintiff), as executor of Judge Johnson's estate, brought a quiet-title action to reclaim the parcels for failure to fulfill the conditions subsequent, or alternatively for undue influence in the original conveyances. The district court found one condition unmet but held the quiet-title claim barred by Colorado's statute of limitations on real property actions, found insufficient evidence of undue influence, and additionally found the claim barred by laches, ruling for the city.
Whether the statute of limitations for actions affecting real property governs actions for repossession of title arising from the failure to fulfill the conditions of a deed conveying title in fee simple subject to a condition subsequent.