Opinion ID: 1424312
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Trinity's Claim to Title

Text: 3. The special master found that the signature of Rev. Days on the 1990 quitclaim deed was a forgery, a finding amply supported by the record on appeal. The special master then concluded, with no explanation, that the 1998 warranty deed from the grantees named in the 1990 quitclaim deed vested fee simple absolute title to the church property in Trinity's trustees. On appeal, the congregation contends that the special master's conclusion, which was adopted by the trial court, cannot be sustained as a matter of law. We agree. The 1990 quitclaim deed was a forgery. It was a complete nullity and was ineffective to convey title to the church property from Rev. Days to the named grantees. [14] Thus, the grantees had no title to convey to the Trinity trustees when they executed the 1998 warranty deed. As a leading authority on Georgia property law has explained, [i]t is elementary that land not owned by the grantor cannot pass by his deed. [15] Accordingly, the special master and the trial court erred in ruling that fee simple absolute title to the property vested in the Trinity trustees by virtue of the 1998 warranty deed. On appeal, the Trinity trustees do not seek to defend the special master's report and the resulting trial court judgment on their own terms. In other words, the Trinity trustees no longer contend that they can trace their claim to the church property from the 1998 warranty deed back through the 1990 quitclaim deed to the 1965 warranty deeds. Instead, they seek to defend the trial court's judgment on the ground that the 1998 transaction was a bona fide purchase for value without notice of the defect in the grantees' title. This argument fails for several reasons. First, the congregation was in actual possession of the property when the transaction occurred, and actual possession of land constitutes notice of the possessor's interest in the property as a matter of law. [16] Second, the recorded chain of title provided notice to the Trinity trustees of the congregation's claim to the property by virtue of the congregation's recorded notice of prescriptive claim. [17] Third, the forged 1990 quitclaim deed bars the Trinity trustees from claiming the protection of the bona fide purchaser for value doctrine. [18]