Issue

Action to quiet title—equitable subrogation—applicability—genuine issues of material fact—culpable negligence

Summary

In plaintiff bank's declaratory judgment action to quiet title to a home sold under execution (which was held to satisfy a lien of judgment) to the homeowner's daughter–at which point plaintiff's lien was extinguished–where there were genuine issues of material fact regarding whether the doctrine of equitable subrogation was applicable to provide relief to plaintiff, which had a superior interest in the property to the holder of the lien of judgment, the Court of Appeals erred by concluding that defendants (the homeowner and her daughter) were entitled to summary judgment. On remand, the trial court was instructed to utilize broad discretion to obtain the necessary information to determine whether plaintiff's predecessor-in-interest was culpably negligent in agreeing to refinance the first loan on the property without exercising due diligence to discover the publicly-recorded lien of judgment, and to use all of the facts to balance the equities.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →