BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CWABS 2007 v. 136 LLC (2021)

Order and judgment (one paper), Supreme Court, New York County (Arlene P. Bluth, J.), entered June 21, 2019, which denied plaintiff's motion for summary judgment foreclosing on a mortgage and granted defendant 136 Beekman LLC's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and on its counterclaim to quiet title on the property, and dismissed the complaint, cancelled the notice of pendency, adjudged 136 Beekman to be the sole owner in fee simple entitled to possession, adjudged plaintiff's consolidated mortgage not to be a lien or encumbrance on the property, and barred plaintiff and its successors from claiming a mortgage, lien, encumbrance, or interest, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

The record evidence of payments and satisfaction of two other recorded mortgage interests supports the motion court's finding that defendant 136 Beekman's immediate predecessor in interest, its sole member, was a good faith purchaser for value not subject to the unrecorded consolidated mortgage that plaintiff owns (see Real Property Law § 291;  Andy Assoc. v. Bankers Trust Co., 49 N.Y.2d 13, 16–17, 424 N.Y.S.2d 139, 399 N.E.2d 1160 [1979];  Farrell v. Sitaras, 22 A.D.3d 518, 520, 803 N.Y.S.2d 659 [2d Dept. 2005] ).  On the facts of this case, and in light of previous litigation involving 136 Beekman's various predecessors and related parties, reasonable inquiry “as suggested by the facts” did not entail further inquiry concerning yet another previously recorded mortgage given by defendants Robert Bentley and Julie Yang to plaintiff's predecessor in interest, the note for which was consolidated into the note at issue here (see Akasa Holdings, LLC v. 214 Lafayette House, LLC, 177 A.D.3d 103, 120–121, 109 N.Y.S.3d 17 [1st Dept. 2019], quoting Anderson v. Blood, 152 N.Y. 285, 293, 46 N.E. 493 [1897];  see also 2386 Creston Ave. Realty, LLC v. M–P–M Mgt. Corp., 58 A.D.3d 158, 163, 867 N.Y.S.2d 416 [1st Dept. 2008], lv denied 11 N.Y.3d 716, 874 N.Y.S.2d 6, 902 N.E.2d 440 [2009] ).  Plaintiff's contention that 136 Beekman's owner and her husband are connected to Bentley and Yang, and thus were put on notice of plaintiff's interest, is belied by the record.  That 136 Beekman did not pay its sole member for the ultimate transfer of title is of no moment, as “a bona fide purchaser for value who acquires title without notice of an unrecorded and unsatisfied mortgage is then able to confer good title to a third party” (Wachovia Bank, N.A. v. Swenton, 133 A.D.3d 846, 847–848, 20 N.Y.S.3d 405 [2d Dept. 2015] ).

We have considered plaintiff's remaining arguments and find them unavailing.