## Facts

- In August 2008, Jeffrey and Rebecca Rowe bought lot 4 from Trent and Melissa Adams by statutory warranty deed.
- The deed included statutory warranties/covenants, including seisin, right to convey, quiet enjoyment (quiet possession), against encumbrances, and to defend title.
- Joel Klein owned the adjacent lot 3.
- At the time of the Rowes’ purchase, Klein’s greenhouse extended over the boundary onto lot 4.
- Klein also used and maintained areas near the boundary: a parking strip where vehicles often crossed onto lot 4, and an area where he maintained lawn and a leach field on lot 4.
- In 2010, the Rowes obtained a survey showing encroachments by the greenhouse and by parked vehicles.
- When the Rowes later sought to terrace the boundary area, Klein objected and asserted he had treated the northern 10 feet of lot 4 as his own since 1974.
- In 2014, the Rowes sued Klein for quiet title and ejectment; Klein counterclaimed for adverse possession.
- The trial court ruled for Klein on adverse possession and quieted title to the disputed area in Klein.
- The Rowes tendered defense of the title dispute to the Adamses under the warranty to defend; the Adamses did not respond.
- The Rowes then filed a third-party complaint against the Adamses for breach of deed covenants, including seisin, against encumbrances, quiet possession, and the duty to defend, more than six years after the 2008 conveyance (about six years and three months).
- The Adamses moved to dismiss based on Washington’s six-year limitations period for written contracts; the trial court denied the motion and certified for discretionary review the accrual question for the deed covenants.

## Issues

1. When does the six-year statute of limitations begin to run on claims for breach of present covenants in a statutory warranty deed, such as seisin (and related present covenants)?
2. When does the limitations period begin to run on a claim for breach of the statutory warranty to defend title after the grantee tenders defense of a third-party title claim?
3. When does the limitations period begin to run on a claim for breach of the statutory warranty of quiet possession/quiet enjoyment, including for land openly possessed by a neighbor at the time of conveyance?

## Decision

- The court held that present covenants in a statutory warranty deed (including seisin) are breached, if at all, at conveyance; therefore, the statute of limitations begins to run upon delivery of the deed.
- Because the Rowes sued the Adamses more than six years after the 2008 conveyance, the claims based on present covenants were time-barred, and the trial court should have dismissed them.
- The court held that the statutory warranty to defend is a future covenant; it is breached when the grantee tenders defense of a third-party claim and the grantor wrongfully refuses (or fails) to provide a defense.
- The court ruled the statute of limitations on the Rowes’ defend-title claim began to run when the Adamses failed to defend after tender, so the claim was not time-barred on the record before the court.
- The court held the statutory warranty of quiet possession is a future covenant generally breached upon actual or constructive eviction by a party with superior title; the limitations period ordinarily begins to run at eviction (or its legal equivalent).
- The court applied an exception for the portion of disputed property occupied by Klein’s greenhouse at the time of conveyance: as to that area, the Rowes were constructively evicted at conveyance, so the limitations period began in 2008 and that portion of the quiet-possession claim was time-barred.
- Disposition: the appellate court reversed the denial of dismissal as to the time-barred present-covenant claims and reversed in part as to the quiet-possession claim (greenhouse portion), but otherwise affirmed the denial of dismissal as to the defend-title claim and the remaining quiet-possession claim.

## Legal Principles

- Washington applies a six-year statute of limitations for actions on written contracts (including deed covenants), and accrual depends on whether the covenant is present or future.
- Present covenants in a statutory warranty deed (such as seisin, and related present covenants like right to convey and against encumbrances) concern the state of title at execution and are breached, if at all, upon conveyance; limitations run from delivery of the deed.
- The statutory warranty to defend title is a future covenant; breach occurs when the grantee gives proper notice and tenders defense of a third-party title claim and the grantor fails or refuses to defend; limitations run from that failure/refusal.
- The statutory warranty of quiet possession/quiet enjoyment is a future covenant; breach generally occurs upon actual or constructive eviction by a party with superior title, including an eviction established through a judgment quieting title in the third party; limitations run from eviction (or its legal equivalent).
- If, at conveyance, a third party is already in open and notorious possession of a portion of the conveyed land such that the grantee does not obtain possession of that portion, constructive eviction exists at conveyance for that portion, and limitations run from the sale date.

## Conclusion

Rowe v. Klein draws the limitations line between present and future covenants in Washington statutory warranty deeds: claims for present covenants (including seisin) accrue at conveyance and were untimely when filed more than six years after the 2008 deed, while the warranties to defend and of quiet possession generally accrue later—on refusal to defend and on eviction—except that quiet-possession claims tied to land openly occupied at conveyance (the greenhouse area) accrue at conveyance.


Rowe v. Klein, 409 P.3d 1152 (2018)