Suntrust Mortgage, Inc. financed Doris Milton’s purchase of a residence in the Villas at Hidden Hills subdivision. Shakrookh, a.k.a. Daniel, Deljoo holds a security deed on the property; Suntrust and Milton were unaware of the security deed at the time Milton purchased the property. Suntrust sued Deljoo, seeking to cancel the security deed or otherwise quiet title in the property as to Deljoo’s security deed.1 Deljoo filed a motion for summary judgment, as did Suntrust and Milton. The trial court granted Suntrust and Milton’s motion for summary judgment and denied Deljoo’s motion. Deljoo appeals and, for reasons that follow, we affirm. Summary judgment is appropriate when no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.2 We apply a de novo standard of review to an appeal from the grant or denial of summary judgment, and we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn from it in a light favorable to the non-moving party.3 The record reflects that Vanguard Builders and Developers, LLC purchased the lot at issue from S & F Construction in August 2001; the purchase agreement referenced only an outstanding loan from Tucker Federal Bank. In June 2005 Milton purchased from Vanguard the following property:all that tract or parcel of land lying and being in Land Lot 28 of the 16th District, DeKalb County, Georgia, being Lot 16, Villas at Hidden Hills Subdivision, as per plat thereof recorded in Plat Book 109, page 40, DeKalb County, Georgia Records, which recorded plat is incorporated herein by reference and made a part of this description. When Milton purchased the property, Vanguard executed an owner’s affidavit stating that “there are no encumbrances or liens of any nature against said property that are not being paid in full and satisfied by affiant as a result of the transaction wherein this affidavit is given nor is there any other person or entity claiming any interest therein, EXCEPT: none.”
Deljoo’s security deed from S & F Construction, Inc., executed in December 2000, referred to the same property, but mistakenly described it as “being in Land Lot 18 of the 16th District, DeKalb County, Georgia.”4 The title examination performed for Milton did not reveal Deljoo’s security deed.5 No payoff to Deljoo was made at Milton’s closing. The trial court concluded that the incorrect land lot number in the legal description of Deljoo’s deed took it outside the chain of title, and that Milton and Suntrust were therefore bona fide purchasers without notice of Deljoo’s deed and entitled to summary judgment.
