Vineville Capital Grp. LLC v. McCook

After seven years, title to real property conveyed by a security deed reverted to the grantor of title, since the plaintiff had not cancelled or foreclosed upon the security deed; because the plaintiff's claims relied on the continuing validity of his security interest, which he no longer had, his attempt to enjoin another creditor from foreclosing on the property failed as a matter of law.

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Under OCGA § 44-14-80, title to real property conveyed by a security deed that has not been cancelled or foreclosed upon after a certain period of time reverts to the grantor as a matter of law. The statute sets the default time period at seven years starting, depending on the circumstances, from either the maturity of the debt or from the date of the original conveyance. Id. The parties to the security deed are allowed, however, to extend the time to 20 years by so designating in the security deed. Id. The question in this case is whether the relevant security deed contains the necessary designation. The trial court held that an issue of fact remains as to the interpretation of the relevant security deed, and it therefore denied the appellant bank’s motion to dismiss. We disagree and reverse.

The relevant facts are not in dispute. These facts show that Thomas McCook, Jr., obtained two loans and signed two deeds to secure debt concerning the same property. On or about July 1, 2002, he obtained a $1 million loan from his father, Thomas McCook, Sr.,1 and signed a demand note to repay the loan. The same day, McCook, Jr., also entered into a security deed in which he conveyed title to his personal residence located at 760 Fieldstone Drive in Macon the premises to his father as security for the loan; this “McCook security deed,” at issue in this case, was duly recorded in the county real property records on July 2, 2002. In 2005, McCook, Jr., obtained a separate loan of more than $500,000 from Regions Bank and executed a security deed for the same premises in favor of Regions, which deed was also duly recorded in the county property records, thereby creating a second position security interest in the same premises. As of July 2, 2009, seven years after the conveyance of the McCook security deed, McCook, Sr., had not foreclosed upon or cancelled the McCook security deed.2

Vineville Capital Grp. LLC v. McCook

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