Bose McKinney & Evans

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Bay Bridge LLC ("Bay Bridge") filed a complaint in Lake Superior Court to quiet title to a parcel of real estate commonly known as 149th and Colfax, Cedar Lake, Indiana ("the real estate") and named Atul Kumar ("Kumar") as a defendant. Kumar had purchased the real estate at a tax sale but failed to record his deed. The trial court granted Bay Bridge’s motion for summary judgment. Kumar appeals and raises several issues. However, we address only the following dispositive issue: whether Bay Bridge was a bona fide purchaser of the real estate at issue.

Conclusion (slip op. at 7): The trial court properly granted Bay Bridge’s motion for summary judgment on its complaint to quiet title. Affirmed.

Key Analysis (slip op. at 6, 7): Kumar failed to record his tax deed as required by Indiana Code section 32-21-4-1, and it remained unrecorded until after Bay Bridge filed its complaint to quiet title. Therefore, Bay Bridge did not have constructive notice of Kumar’s interest in the real estate at issue . . . With regard to actual notice, prior to purchasing the property, Bay Bridge requested a title search, which found of record no lis pendens, no certificate of tax sale, no tax deed, nor any other record interest of Atul Kumar in the property purchased by Bay Bridge. Moreover, Kumar did not designate any evidence to the trial court which would establish that Bay Bridge had actual notice of his claimed interest in the property.