Larry Wilkins v. United States

DISCUSSION

A. All of Appellants’ Claims Accrued at the Same Time.

Appellants argue that the district court erred in treating their claims as

accruing at the same time. Specifically, Appellants argue that their claims—

challenging public use of the easement, parking along the easement, and the

government’s satisfaction of its obligations under the easement—accrued at

different times and should have been analyzed on an individual basis.

For purposes of calculating the statute of limitations under the QTA, an

“action shall be deemed to have accrued on the date the plaintiff or his predecessor

in interest knew or should have known of the claim of the United States.” 28 U.S.C.

§ 2409a(g) (emphasis added). An action accrues when a “reasonable landowner”

would have been alerted to an adverse claim. Shultz v. Dep’t of Army, 886 F.2d

1157, 1160 (9th Cir. 1989).

All of Appellants’ claims—despite being organized as two separate causes of

action in the complaint—were ultimately premised on the public’s alleged

unauthorized use of the road. The claims therefore accrued at the same time—when

a reasonable landowner should have known of the government’s position that…