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Smith v. Wells Fargo Bank

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Argued January 27, 2010

Before THOMPSON and OBERLY, Associate Judges, and FERREN, Senior Judge.

In 2005, Mary Smith, asserting power of attorney for her father, Willie Smith, conveyed to herself a parcel of real property that he owned. In 2006, Mary Smith executed a deed of trust conveying an interest in the property to a mortgage lender. Subsequently, after Mary Smith defaulted on the mortgage loan, Wells Fargo Bank, which had come to hold the note secured by the deed of trust, foreclosed on the property and eventually purchased it at a foreclosure sale. Appellant, who is Mary Smith’s brother, and several of their siblings sued both Mary Smith and Wells Fargo in a quiet title action, alleging that the conveyances to and from Mary Smith (and any conveyances following from them) were invalid because the power-of-attorney instrument did not authorize Mary Smith to convey the property to herself and because, in any event, the instrument was a forgery. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Wells Fargo, (1) having stricken the affidavits that plaintiffs submitted to oppose summary judgment on the forgery issue, and (2) finding that Wells Fargo was a bona fide purchaser for value without notice of any defect in title (a “BFP”). This appeal followed.

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