Iowa Code
Chapter 592 - CITIES AND TOWNS
Section 592.3 - City and town plats.

592.3 City and town plats.
1. a. In all cases where, prior to January 1, 1980, any person has laid out any parcel of land into town or city lots and the plat of the lots has been recorded and the plat appears to be insufficient because of failure to show certificates of the county clerk of the district court, county treasurer, or county recorder, or the affidavit and bond, if any, and the certificate of approval of the local governing body or because the certificates are defective, or because of a failure to fully comply with all of the provisions of chapter 354 of the Code in effect at the time of the recording of the plat, or corresponding statutes of earlier Codes, or because the plat failed to show signatures or acknowledgment of proprietors as provided by law, or because the acknowledgment was defective, and subsequent to the platting, lots or subdivisions of the lots have been sold and conveyed, all such said plats which have not been vacated, are legalized as of the date of the recording of the plat, the same as though all certificates have been attached and all the other necessary steps taken as provided by law, and the record of the plat shall be conclusive evidence that the person was the proprietor of the tract of land and the owner of the tract at the time of the platting, and that the tract of land was free and clear of all encumbrances unless an affidavit to the contrary was filed at the time of recording the plat.
b. After July 1, 1992, no action shall be brought on any cause arising more than ten years earlier or which has been in existence for more than ten years, to establish, enforce, or recover any right, title, interest, lien, or condition existing at the time of the platting, and adverse to a clear and unqualified title in fee simple in the owner unless on or before July 1, 1992, there is filed in the office of county recorder of the county where the real estate involved is located a written statement, acknowledged by the claimant, definitely describing the real estate involved, stating the nature and extent of the right or interest claimed, and stating the facts upon which the claim is based.
2. a. After July 1, 1992, in all cases where more than ten years earlier, a plat of lots from a parcel of land which has been laid into town or city lots has been recorded and the plat appears to be insufficient, the plat is legalized as of the date of the recording of the plat to the same extent as if the plat did not appear insufficient, if subsequent to the platting, the lots or a subdivision of the lots have been sold and conveyed, and the plats have not been vacated. A plat shall appear insufficient because of one of the following:
(1) A failure to show or a deficiency in a certificate of the county clerk of the district court, county treasurer, or county recorder, or an affidavit and bond, or a certificate of approval of a local governing body.
(2) A failure to fully comply with Code provisions in effect at the time of the recording of the plat.
(3) A failure to show or a deficiency in a signature or acknowledgment of a proprietor as provided by law.
b. The record of the plat shall be conclusive evidence that the person was the proprietor of the tract of land and the owner of the tract at the time of the platting, and that the tract of land was free and clear of all encumbrances unless an affidavit to the contrary was filed at the time of recording the plat.
[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §10416; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §592.3]
91 Acts, ch 183, §32; 2013 Acts, ch 30, §261

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