Blalak v. Mid Valley Transportation, Inc.

858 P.2d 683, 175 Ariz. 538, 146 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 33, 1993 Ariz. App. LEXIS 174
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedAugust 26, 1993
Docket1 CA-CV 91-0169
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 858 P.2d 683 (Blalak v. Mid Valley Transportation, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blalak v. Mid Valley Transportation, Inc., 858 P.2d 683, 175 Ariz. 538, 146 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 33, 1993 Ariz. App. LEXIS 174 (Ark. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinions

OPINION

JACOBSON, Judge.

The issue presented by this appeal is whether the failure to record the existence of a beneficial interest in land held in trust, as provided by A.R.S. § 33-404, subjects that beneficial interest to a judgment lien obtained against the trustee.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The facts are not in material dispute. In 1982, appellant Victor Blalak sold property in Yuma County for the sum of $50,000. Sometime later, in 1988, Blalak learned that the same property was listed for sale by his purchasers for the sum of $29,900.

[540]*540In order to conceal his involvement in reacquiring the property, Blalak had his real estate agent make an offer of $28,000 for the property in the name of Blalak’s friend, Curt Willsie. The oral agreement between Willsie and Blalak provided that Willsie would take the property in his name and, after close of escrow, quitclaim it to Blalak.

The former purchasers accepted the $28,-000 offer, and escrow closed on December 16,1988. Willsie executed a quitclaim deed to Blalak on that date, before a notary public, leaving the effective date and the acknowledgement date blank. Blalak waited eleven months before recording the deed.

Subsequently, Blalak attempted to use the property as collateral for a loan. A title search revealed that appellee Mid Valley Transportation, Inc. had acquired a judgment lien on the property as the result of a recorded judgment obtained against Willsie in California. Willsie was unaware that the judgment had been recorded in Arizona.

Blalak brought this action seeking to quiet title to the property and declaring the judgment lien to be invalid. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the trial court denied Blalak’s motion and granted the motion of Mid Valley. Blalak timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

The positions of the parties are relatively straightforward. Blalak contends that Willsie held the property in trust for him, and that, therefore, Willsie’s creditors could not affect Blalak’s beneficial interest. Mid Valley contends that Blalak’s failure to disclose his interest subjects that interest to its judgment lien by reason of A.R.S. § 33-412(A), which provides that all conveyances of property are void as to credb tors unless recorded, and A.R.S. § 33-404, which requires the disclosure of the names and addresses of beneficiaries of property held in trust.

In making his argument, Blalak relies primarily upon Valley National Bank v. Hay, 13 Ariz.App. 39, 474 P.2d 46 (1970), which held that the beneficial interest arising from a resulting trust in favor of the trustee’s children was not subject to a judgment lien in favor of the trustee’s creditor, even though that beneficial interest was not recorded. In attempting to apply Hay, Blalak characterizes his interest in the property as arising from a resulting trust because he supplied the purchase price while the property was taken in the name of another. Mid Valley disputes this characterization because Blalak had an express, although unwritten, agreement with Willsie and, therefore, the property was held in an express trust that had to be disclosed under A.R.S. § 33-404.

In our opinion, it is irrelevant whether the trust was an express trust or a resulting trust, except for the applicability of Hay. The fact that a trust existed on this property is acknowledged by both Mid Valley and Blalak. However, the world was not placed on notice that a trust relationship existed between Blalak and Willsie, whether that trust arose from an express trust or a resulting trust. The issue in this case focuses on the enforceability of a judgment lien against trust property where the existence of the trust or the beneficiary has not been disclosed to the world.

We start, as does Blalak, with this court’s opinion in Hay. The original opinion in Hay clearly held that A.R.S. § 33-412(A)1 was not intended to affect equitable interest in land, and was only intended to require that legal interests in land be recorded. However, the supplemental [541]*541opinion of the court held “only that a resulting trust, in order to be enforceable against a creditor, need not be recorded under the provisions of A.R.S. § 33-412.” 13 Ariz.App. 180, 181, 475 P.2d 9, 10 (1970). Thus, Hay, by its express holding, is limited to resulting trusts.

This does not mean that the original position in Hay was incorrect; it simply means that the Hay court did not need to go beyond the issue directly before it in deciding that case. Because we have concluded that it is irrelevant whether the trust created between Blalak and Willsie was the result of an express trust or a resulting trust, we need to determine whether the position taken by Hay initially, that is, that the recording requirements of A.R.S. § 33-412 do not apply to the recording of equitable interests in land, is correct.

A creditor is entitled to execute only on the interest its debtor holds in property. Thus, property held by a debtor in trust is not subject to attachment for the debtor’s debts. Richion v. Mahoney, 62 Cal.App.3d 604, 133 Cal.Rptr. 262 (1976). This is the rule in absence of a recording statute requiring a different result. 90 C.J.S. Trust § 185 (1955). In Arizona at least since 1910, the recording statutes have not required that an equitable interest in land be recorded to be valid against creditors or third party bona fide purchasers.

As was held in Luke v. Smith, 13 Ariz. 155, 108 P. 494 (1910), aff'd, 227 U.S. 379, 33 S.Ct. 356, 57 L.Ed. 558 (1913), the recording statutes making all conveyances of land void as to creditors and subsequent purchasers for value, unless acknowledged and recorded, do not cover equitable liens, which need not be recorded to prevail over judgment creditors of the actual titleholder. See also Jarvis v. Chanslor & Lyon Co., 20 Ariz. 134, 177 P. 27 (1919). This is also the conclusion of at least one commentator on the subject, who noted: “Jarvis stands for the proposition that in Arizona a transfer of the Buyer’s equitable interest under an agreement of sale is not subject to the Recording Act.” W. Rehnquist, Subdivision Trusts and the Bankruptcy Act, 3 Ariz.L.Rev. 165, 172 (1961).

Further, this is also the position of the Texas courts, the state from which our recording statute was taken. In Johnson v. Darr, 114 Tex. 516, 272 S.W.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Calcagno v. Ainbinder
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2016
Kaufmann v. M & S Unlimited, L.L.C.
121 P.3d 181 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2005)
In Re Estate of Kiser
72 P.3d 425 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2003)
In Re Estate of Kiser v. Campbell
72 P.3d 425 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2003)
Chase Bank of Arizona v. Acosta
880 P.2d 1109 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1994)
Blalak v. Mid Valley Transportation, Inc.
858 P.2d 683 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
858 P.2d 683, 175 Ariz. 538, 146 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 33, 1993 Ariz. App. LEXIS 174, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blalak-v-mid-valley-transportation-inc-arizctapp-1993.