In California, a third party who acts in reliance on a quiet title judgment retains its property rights even if the judgment is later invalidated as void, as long as the third party qualifies as a bona fide purchaser for value. The third party must do so without knowledge of any defects in the judgment. But “knowledge” is a slippery term. Does it mean actual knowledge, or include “constructive” knowledge? is a legal concept that, in real estate, generally applies when the document must be recorded as prescribed by law. The buyer may not have seen it, but the law treats them as if they had. In a recent decision out of Inglewood, CA, the court decided that they must have neither actual notice or constructive notice. This decision is interesting because the buyer would have had to do some digging (and actually did obtain title insurance) to realize there was a defect.

Quiet-title-judgment-attorneyIn Tsasu LLC v. U.S. Bank Trust, N.A the court had a complicated series of facts.

– Celestine borrowed money from CIT, who assigned the deed of trust to US Bank. It was then assigned to DLJ.