DueProcessDoWheelies wrote:Ok I need to clear up some confusion on deeds in property. It seems like the examiners love testing over estoppel by deed, and what does and doesn't constitute that. Let me give some hypos:
Hypo 1:
Landowner owns Blackacre. In January, Landowner drafts a will and devises Blackacre to Son. In February, Son was desperate for money and sold Blackacre by quitclaim deed to Buyer. In May, Landowner died. In June, Son was still desperate for money and sold Blackacre to Purchaser. Purchaser had no notice of the sale to Buyer. Purchaser later discovered Buyer on the property, and filed suit to have Buyer ejected. Buyer wins.
Hypo 2:
Landowner owns Blackacre. In January, Landowner told Son "You are such a great son. I want to express my gratitude by giving you Blackacre. I will have my lawyer draft a deed soon." In February, Landowner still had not drafted a deed. Son was desperate for money and sold Blackacre to Buyer by quitclaim deed. In March, Landowner finally drafted a deed and delivered it to Son. In April, Son was desperate for money again and sold Blackacre to Purchaser. Purchaser had no notice of the sale to Buyer. Purchaser discovered Buyer on the property and filed suit to have Buyer ejected. Purchaser wins.
Hypo 3:
Same facts as #2, but in March, after Son had sold the land to Buyer, Landowner discovered Son had a terrible drug problem and decided not to grant Blackacre to him after all. Landowner sues to have Buyer ejected. Landowner wins.
Ignore recording statutes for these, by the way.
So, if I am correct on the law, in #1, Buyer wins because of estoppel by deed. In #2, Purchaser wins because Son had no title to convey to Buyer when he sold the property. In #3, Landowner wins for the same reason as #2.
Am I correct in all this? As in, estoppel by deed only really applies when you have an ACTUAL future interest in the land? And NOT when the landowner simply says "i'm going to grant this land to you."
Dunno if this helps, but Wikipedia has some good examples:
1. If O conveys property she doesn't own to A by warranty deed, but O later acquires title to that land, then title immediately passes to A.
2. However, if, as above, O conveys property she doesn't own to A by warranty deed, but O later acquires title to that land, A may elect to treat O's lack of title at the time of the conveyance as a breach of the covenants of seisin and right to convey (two of the six traditional forms of Covenants for Title that are contained in a general warranty deed), and sue O for damages. A cannot be forced to accept O's after-acquired title if she wishes instead to receive damages.
3. If O conveys property she doesn't own to A by quitclaim deed, but O later acquires title to that land, then A owns nothing. This is because O passed her interest to A with a quitclaim deed; at the time of the conveyance, O's interest was nothing, so she passed nothing.