Court Opinion

ID: 9844756
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:08:28.164528+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:15:42.036364
License: Public Domain

Morris, J.,
dissenting:
This Court, in the majority opinion in Church v. Berry, 2 N.C. App. 617, 163 S.E. 2d 664 (1968), concluded that the opinion in Reed v. Elmore, 246 N.C. 221, 98 S.E. 2d 360 (1957), requires a purchaser of real property in this State to examine all recorded conveyances made by prior record title holders during the period of their ownership of the property for the purpose of determining whether any one of them had expressly imposed restrictions on the use of the property. With this interpretation of Reed v. Elmore, supra, I agree. In this case, the majority opinion affirms the trial *456court because there is “no instrument of record which expressly imposes any restrictions on defendant’s lot”.
It appears from the record that Aycock owned a fifteen-acre tract. On 22 June 1965, Aycock conveyed a lot from this tract to Marrone. This deed contained restrictions. Subsequent deeds for lots from this fifteen-acre tract contained no restrictions. However, in my opinion, the restrictions in the Marrone deed are sufficiently, clearly and expressly stated to serve as specific notice of their application to other lots in the tract. The restrictions are set out in full in the majority opinion. The paragraph making the conveyance subject to the restrictions states that the restrictions shall run with the land and specifically refers to subsequent grantees of grantors who might acquire any portion of the original fifteen-acre tract. The first restriction limits the use to residential purposes only and provides that “no residence shall have more than one detached outbuilding.” The fourth restriction provides that “no more than one dwelling shall be constructed on any one lot, as originally sold by the Grantors herein.” (Emphasis supplied.) The fifth restriction requires that “no construction improvements shall be erected nearer than 30 feet to an adjacent street or road right-of-way, no nearer than 8 feet to any other property line.” (Emphasis supplied.)
I cannot agree that the restrictions were obviously intended to apply only to the lot then being conveyed. The contrary seems more obvious to me. The deed was recorded as the first deed from Aycock and its recordation was prior to his subsequent conveyances of lots in the tract. It, therefore, constituted notice to subsequent purchasers of lots in the fifteen-acre tract. Reed v. Elmore, supra.
For these reasons, I am compelled to vote for reversal.