Also known as: bona-fide purchaser filter · BFP filter · bona fide purchaser · BFP
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A doctrine under which a transferee from a bona fide purchaser who prevailed under a recording act takes free of prior unrecorded interests even if the transferee has notice of those interests.
Bianca Blanco conveyed Blackacre to Benito Benitez without recording. Benito conveyed to Brooke Bryant, who paid value, lacked notice, and recorded first under a notice statute. Brooke then conveyed to Bethany Boyd, who knew of Bianca's claim. Bethany prevails over Bianca because Brooke's status as a bona fide purchaser divested the prior interest and passed clean title.
Boubacar Bah bought land from a seller who had previously conveyed the same parcel to Brianna Burke under an unrecorded deed. Boubacar paid value but had inquiry notice from visible occupancy by Brianna. Boubacar conveyed to Bay Area Systems, which took with actual knowledge. Bay Area Systems cannot claim shelter because Boubacar never qualified as a bona fide purchaser.
Blackwood Technologies obtained possession of equipment by fraud from its true owner. Blackwood sold the equipment to Boreal Energy, a buyer for value without notice. Boreal Energy then sold to Brighton Manufacturing, which learned of the fraud before taking delivery. Brighton Manufacturing takes good title because Boreal Energy qualified as a bona fide purchaser.
A forger executed a deed purporting to convey land owned by Bianca Blanco. Benito Benitez purchased from the forger for value without notice and recorded. Benito conveyed to Brooke Bryant, who knew the original deed was forged. Brooke Bryant holds good title in a jurisdiction protecting bona fide purchasers under its recording act.
Seth paid half the price under an unrecorded installment contract for land. The seller conveyed the same land to Bethany Boyd, who paid full value, searched title, and recorded. Bethany conveyed to Boubacar Bah, who had notice of Seth's payments. Boubacar Bah takes subject only to a lien for the amount Seth paid, as Bethany's bona fide purchaser status limits the remedy.
A thief stole paintings from their owner and sold them to a gallery that paid value without notice and recorded a bill of sale. The gallery later sold one painting to Brianna Burke, who learned of the theft after purchase. Brianna Burke obtains good title because the gallery qualified as a bona fide purchaser whose protection passes to her.
Georgia O'Keeffe, a renowned artist, had three paintings stolen from An American Place gallery in New York in March 1946. The gallery was operated by her husband Alfred Stieglitz. The paintings subject to this action are "Seaweed" and "Cliffs," with a third painting "Fragments" also missing. O'Keeffe did not report the theft to the police or advertise the loss, though she discussed it with associates. Stieglitz died in the summer of 1946. In 1947 O'Keeffe retained Doris Bry to help settle the estate. Bry urged reporting the loss, but O'Keeffe declined. In 1972, O'Keeffe authorized Bry to report the theft to the Art Dealers Association of America, Inc., which maintains a registry of stolen paintings. In September 1975, O'Keeffe learned that the paintings were in the Andrew Crispo Gallery in New York on consignment from Bernard Danenberg Galleries. On February 11, 1976, O'Keeffe discovered that Ulrich A. Frank had sold the paintings to Barry Snyder for $35,000. She demanded their return, but Snyder refused. O'Keeffe filed her complaint for replevin in March 1976 against Snyder, who impleaded Frank as a third-party defendant. The trial court granted summary judgment to Snyder on the ground that the action was barred by the six-year statute of limitations. The Appellate Division reversed and entered judgment for O'Keeffe. The Supreme Court of New Jersey granted certification to consider the issues. Frank traces his possession of the paintings to his father, Dr. Frank, who died in 1968, claiming to have seen them in his father's apartment as early as 1941-1943. Snyder purchased the paintings from Frank in 1975. There are factual disputes regarding the circumstances of the paintings' disappearance and acquisition.
View caseThe filter allows a subsequent transferee to prevail even with notice because title already passed clean through a prior bona fide purchaser who recorded first. Direct protection requires the claimant itself to meet the good-faith, value, and no-notice requirements at acquisition.
No. A purchaser with inquiry notice never qualifies as a bona fide purchaser, so no protected title passes to later grantees regardless of their own knowledge.
In some jurisdictions a subsequent purchaser without notice who records may gain protection against the true owner even though the deed is void, allowing the shelter to extend to later transferees depending on the type of recording statute.
…from a private party would be well-advised to inquire whether a work of art has been reported as lost or stolen. However, a bona fide purchaser who purchases in the ordinary course of business a painting entrusted to an art dealer should be able to acquire good title against the true owner. Under the U.C.C. entrusting possession of…