Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Inconsistent Property Description Does Not Invalidate Mortgage

By Stewart E. Sterk
November 01, 2022

Can a purchaser of a condominium unit at the condominium board's foreclosure sale take free of a prior mortgage by identifying errors or ambiguities in the mortgage documents? In 21647 LLC v. Deutsche National Trust Co., 2022 WL 4585302, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected a bevy of claims raised by the purchaser and held that the purchaser had constructive notice of the mortgage and took subject to the mortgage's priority.

21647 LLC purchased the subject condominium — Unit 49D — for $25,000 at a sheriff's sale held pursuant to the condominium's foreclosure of its lien for common charges. The unit apparently has a market value of $970,000. After the purchaser, 21647 brought an action to vacate the mortgage and for a judgment that the sheriff's sale extinguished the mortgagee's interest.

The root of the difficulties was the original mortgage agreement, which referred to both Unit 49 D and to another apartment in the same building, Unit 23B. When, in 2005, the original mortgagor applied for the $620,000 mortgage he had no interest in Unit 23B. Although the mortgage documents made numerous references to Unit 49D, the first page of the main form included a handwritten notation of Unit 23B, and its lot and block number, in the portion of the page entitled "space above this line for recording data." The legal description attached to the form referred to Unit 23B, and the mortgage was recorded against Unit 23B.

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
'Huguenot LLC v. Megalith Capital Group Fund I, L.P.': A Tutorial On Contract Liability for Real Estate Purchasers Image

In June 2024, the First Department decided Huguenot LLC v. Megalith Capital Group Fund I, L.P., which resolved a question of liability for a group of condominium apartment buyers and in so doing, touched on a wide range of issues about how contracts can obligate purchasers of real property.

Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin Image

With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.

CoStar Wins Injunction for Breach-of-Contract Damages In CRE Database Access Lawsuit Image

Latham & Watkins helped the largest U.S. commercial real estate research company prevail in a breach-of-contract dispute in District of Columbia federal court.

Fresh Filings Image

Notable recent court filings in entertainment law.

The Article 8 Opt In Image

The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.