Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp. v. Shelton

The trial court properly rejected the defendants' claim of bona fide purchaser status, as the designation of guardian in the chain of title put the defendants on notice of the need to confirm the mother's legal authority to convey her children's interest in the property.

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This appeal involves title to a house and lot in a residential subdivision in Forsyth County. The trial court granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, and the defendants appealed. For the reasons that follow, we affirm. 1. On June 30, 1998, Marcus Shelton acquired the property at issue by warranty deed. The same day, Shelton executed security deeds, which were later recorded, totaling $213,750 the “Original Security Deeds”. In September 1998, Shelton executed and recorded a quitclaim deed conveying the property to his wife and two young children in three equal parts.

Two years later, Shelton decided to refinance the property. The new lender, Choice Capital Funding, Inc. “Choice Capital”, advised Shelton that it would not refinance the property unless the children’s names were removed from the chain of title. Choice Capital instructed Shelton to hire a particular attorney to accomplish this task. On July 20, 2000, the attorney filed petitions in the Forsyth County Probate Court for letters of guardianship of property of a minor with respect to each child, requesting that Shelton’s wife be appointed as guardian of their interest in the property. However, the process was never completed. It is undisputed that the probate court never appointed the children’s mother as their conservator,1 nor did it enter an order allowing the children’s two-thirds interest in the property to be conveyed as security for a new loan.

Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp. v. Shelton

The trial court properly rejected the defendants' claim of bona fide purchaser status, as the designation of guardian in the chain of title put the defendants on notice of the need to confirm the mother's legal authority to convey her children's interest in the property.

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