Northern District Bankruptcy Judges Rule On Deed Attestation Issues
Posted on August 8th, 2010
Two recent bankruptcy cases involved the application of Georgia law on deed attestation. In both cases, the trustee was attempting to set the lien pursuant to section 544 of the Bankruptcy Code.
In Gordon v. Wells Fargo, Adv. No. 08-6612, 430 B.R. 287 (December 10, 2009)(J. Massey), the issue was “whether under Georgia law a filed and recorded deed to secure debt that lacks the signature of an unofficial witness on the deed’s signature page provides constructive notice of the grantee’s lien to a bona fide purchaser,” such as a Chapter 7 Trustee pursuant to section 544. Judge Massey ruled in favor of the Trustee and thus set aside the lien.
… a deed may have a patent defect, meaning that the defect is obvious and easily detectable. An example is a deed missing the signature of an unofficial witness. Georgia law has long provided that a patently defective deed does not provide constructive notice to a bona fide purchaser. Se
Tags: Deed, Deed Attestation
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