Also known as: innocent purchasers · bona fide purchaser · BFP
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A purchaser who acquires an interest in property for value in good faith and without notice of prior adverse claims.
Isaiah Ishikawa purchased a parcel from a seller who had previously conveyed the same land to another party via an unrecorded deed. Isaiah paid fair market value after searching the records and found no prior claims. When the first grantee later recorded, Isaiah's recorded deed prevailed because he qualified as an innocent purchaser under the applicable notice statute.
Ira Irving bought land from a grantor whose neighbor had an unrecorded easement visible from a worn path across the property. Ira paid value but ignored the path during his inspection. The neighbor's prior interest prevailed because Ira's failure to investigate meant he was not an innocent purchaser under the race-notice statute.
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Idris Ives obtained a valuable watch through duress and then sold it to India Inoue for cash. India had no knowledge of the duress. The original owner recovered the watch from India because consent obtained by duress does not protect anyone except an innocent purchaser of the chattel.
Ike Ingram received a deed that had been forged by a prior grantor and then sold the land to Integrity Partners for value. Integrity Partners conducted a title search showing no defects and recorded promptly. In the jurisdiction's recording act, Integrity Partners took free of the true owner's claim as an innocent purchaser despite the forged deed.
Ivy Investments paid forty percent of the purchase price under an installment land contract and took possession before discovering a prior unrecorded contract held by another buyer. The court awarded title to the prior claimant but granted Ivy Investments an equitable lien for the amount already paid because it qualified as an innocent purchaser only to the extent of its payments.
Idina Iverson purchased a painting from a seller who had acquired it through adverse possession. The original owner sued years later. Because Idina took without notice of the prior claim and paid value, she was protected as an innocent purchaser and the statute of limitations continued to run in her favor without resetting upon the transfer.
The purchaser must pay valuable consideration, act in good faith, and lack actual or constructive notice of the prior unrecorded interest at the time of acquisition.
No. The purchaser receives protection only to the extent of payments already made and may be awarded an equitable lien rather than full title.
Yes, in some jurisdictions a subsequent purchaser without notice who records may be protected against the true owner depending on the type of recording statute and chain-of-title rules.
A purchaser with inquiry notice of a prior unrecorded claim fails to qualify as an innocent purchaser and loses priority under notice or race-notice recording acts.
…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…