Also known as: preceding owner · succeeding owner · predecessor in title · successor in interest · successors in interest · heirs and assigns
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A substantive legal relationship between parties that justifies binding a nonparty to a prior judgment when the litigation concerns the same property. The relationship arises when one party succeeds to the property interest held by the other at the time of the earlier suit. Courts recognize the link because a successor could have discovered the prior litigation and adjusted the purchase price or declined to buy.
Philip Powell granted a security interest in factory machines to Prosperity Investments before selling the real property to Penelope Price. When Prosperity Investments later perfected its interest by fixture filing, the court held that the interest had priority over any conflicting claim of Philip Powell as predecessor in title. The priority rule therefore protected Prosperity Investments even though Penelope Price had recorded her deed first.
Perry Pratt sued to quiet title against a neighbor and lost. After Pratt sold the land to Pierre Poulin, the neighbor invoked the earlier judgment when Poulin brought the same claim. The court treated Poulin as a succeeding owner and precluded him from relitigating the boundary issue.
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Pedro Pacheco signed a restrictive covenant limiting building height on his lot. After he conveyed the lot to Paul Peterson, a neighboring owner sued Peterson to enforce the covenant. The court held that Peterson, as succeeding owner, stood in Pacheco's shoes and could not relitigate the covenant's validity.
Patriot Insurance obtained a judgment against an owner declaring superior title to a parcel. When the owner's heir later claimed the same parcel, the court bound the heir as a succeeding owner and refused to reopen the title question.
Pioneer Energy lost a contract action over mineral rights on its land. After selling the land to Precision Tools, the buyer attempted the same contract claim. The court treated Precision Tools as a succeeding owner and applied claim preclusion.
A corporation lost a quiet-title suit concerning its headquarters. When a shareholder later asserted an individual claim to the same land, the court bound the shareholder as a succeeding owner through the corporate relationship and dismissed the new action.
The relationship justifies preclusion when the later owner succeeds to the same property interest that was at issue in the earlier suit. A successor could have checked the public records or inquired about prior litigation before acquiring the property. Courts therefore treat the successor as adequately represented by the predecessor.
Supporting sources
Yes. A long-term lease is a recognized possessory interest in the benefited land. The lessee therefore succeeds to the lessor's interest for purposes of enforcing or being bound by covenants that run with that land.
Supporting sources
Under UCC § 9-334(e)(1)(B), a perfected fixture security interest has priority over any conflicting interest of a predecessor in title. The rule protects the secured party even when the real-property owner acquired the land after the fixture filing.
Supporting sources
…1997). The Virginia court refused to obey this Court's Fairfax's Devisee mandate to enter judgment for the British subject's successor in interest. That refusal led to the Court's pathmarking decision in Martin v. Hunter's Lessee , 1 Wheat. 304 (1816). Patterson , a case decided three months after Cooper v. Aaron , 358 U. S. 1…