Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Neil C. Gordon

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Decided: May 22, 2013
• Docket: 11-14331
• Status: Published

Opinion

Case: 11-14331 Date Filed: 05/22/2013 Page: 1 of 2

[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 11-14331 ________________________

D.C. Docket Nos. 1:10-cv-00187-ODE; 08-BKC-06612-JEM In Re: DENISE CODRINGTON,

Debtor. ________________________

WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

versus

NEIL C. GORDON, Chapter 7 Trustee for the Estate of Denise Codrington,

Defendant - Appellee. ________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ________________________

(May 22, 2013) Case: 11-14331 Date Filed: 05/22/2013 Page: 2 of 2

Before TJOFLAT and PRYOR, Circuit Judges, and HUCK,* District Judge.

PER CURIAM:

This case returns to us after we certified two questions to the Supreme Court

of Georgia. Both involved the boundaries of the attestation requirement of

O.C.G.A. § 44-13-33. The reader is referred to our previous certification opinion,

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Gordon, 691 F.3d 1336 (11th Cir. 2012).

The Georgia Supreme Court, in an opinion dated February 18, 2013,

answered the certified questions. See Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Gordon, 292 Ga.

474, ___ S.E.2d ___ (Ga. Feb. 18, 2013). The court held that a security deed that

was not acknowledged and signed by an unofficial witness was not “duly filed,

recorded, and indexed” and did not provide constructive notice to all subsequent

bona fide purchasers, regardless of the fact that an attached waiver was attested to

by witnesses. The court further held that the attested waiver was insufficient to

provide “inquiry notice” to subsequent bona fide purchasers of the existence of the

unattested security deed.

Accordingly, the judgment of the District Court is

AFFIRMED.

* Honorable Paul C. Huck, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida, sitting by designation.