N.D. Cent. Code » Title 32 · Chapter 32-17
North Dakota Century Code

N.D. Cent. Code § 32-17-04 (2026)

Complaint form - Description of property

✓ current as of May 2026
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In an action for the determination of adverse claims, the property must be described in the complaint with such certainty as to enable an officer upon execution to identify it. In other respects the complaint, exclusive of the venue, title, subscription, and verification, may be substantially in the following form, the blanks being properly filled: The plaintiff for claim for relief shows to the court that the plaintiff has an estate or interest in, or a lien or encumbrance upon, as the case may be, the following described real property, situated in the above-named county and state, to wit: _________________________________________________________________ That the defendants claim certain estates or interests in, or liens or encumbrances upon, the same, as the case may be, adverse to the plaintiff. (Here allege the facts concerning use and occupation and value thereof, and any property wasted or removed and the value thereof, if pertinent. Where the state is named as a party defendant, the complaint must state the interest the state or its agencies or departments might have in the property; or in the alternative state that the complainant is not aware of any specific interest that the state might have in the property.) Wherefore, the plaintiff prays:

1. That the defendants be required to set forth all their adverse claims to the property above described, and that the validity, superiority, and priority thereof be determined.

2. That the same be adjudged null and void, and that they be decreed to have no estate or interest in, or lien or encumbrance upon, said property.

3. That this title be quieted as to such claim, and that defendants be forever debarred and enjoined from further asserting the same.

4. That the plaintiff recover possession of the premises described, if possession is desired.

5. That the plaintiff recover ___________________ dollars as the value of the use and occupation and value of property wasted and removed therefrom.

6. That the plaintiff have such other general relief as may be just, together with costs and disbursements.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7 cases, 1979–2009 · leading case: Farmers Union Oil Co. of Garrison v. Smetana, 2009 ND 74 (N.D. 2009).
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Farmers Union Oil Co. of Garrison v. Smetana, 2009 ND 74 (N.D. 2009). · cites it 4× “Thus, N.D.C.C. § 32-17-04 requires that, in a quiet title action, "the property must be described in the complaint with such certainty as to enable an officer upon execution to identify it.”
Regstad v. Steffes, 433 N.W.2d 202 (N.D. 1988). · cites it 4× “Presumably it was included in the judgment because similar language was included in the complaint as a result of the requirements of Section 32-17-04, N.D.C.C., providing that in an action for the determination of adverse claims, the complaint "may be substantially in the…”
Trauger v. Helm Bros., Inc., 279 N.W.2d 406 (N.D. 1979). · cites it 4× “Their complaint, which named Helm Bros, as defendant, complied with the statutory form required by Section 32-17-04, N.D.C.C. At the beginning of the trial in district court, the attorney for the Traugers filed a trial brief in which he enumerated three *408 theories upon which…”
Ward v. Shipp, 340 N.W.2d 14 (N.D. 1983). · cites it 2× “roperty as follows: “East Half of Section 11, Township 139 North, Range 81, West; and any portion of the following property that is to the east of the fence line which had existed for a number of years prior to the new fence which was recently constructed about 60 feet East of…”
Tormaschy v. Tormaschy, 1997 ND 2 (N.D. 1997). · cites it 2× “N.D.C.C. §§ 32-17-04 through 06 and §§ 32-17-08 through 09.”
State v. Mitchell, 2009 ND 69 (N.D. 2009). · cites it 2× “Thus, N.D.C.C. § 32-17-04 requires that, in a quiet title action, “the property must be described in the complaint with such certainty as to enable an officer upon execution to identify it.”
Anderson v. A.P.I. Co. of Minnesota - Civil No. 950392 (N.D. 1997). · cites it 2× “N.D.C.C. §§ 32-17-04 through 06 and §§ 32-17-08 through 09.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.