BR Madison, LLC v. McCord
Attorneys and Parties
Brief Summary
Real property—tax lien foreclosure and quiet title; due process adequacy of notice to an incompetent property owner.
Granted summary judgment to BR Madison, LLC, declaring it the record owner based on a tax lien sale and treasurer's deed.
The order and judgment granting summary judgment and declaring BR Madison, LLC the owner was reversed; the summary judgment motion was denied; the appeal from the order denying renewal was dismissed as academic.
Although mailed and published notices ordinarily satisfy due process, the appellant raised a triable fact issue that the owner, Estelle Y. McCord, suffered from dementia and was incompetent when notices issued, potentially rendering the notices constitutionally inadequate under Mullane and Covey. There is no requirement that the lienholder had actual or constructive knowledge of the owner’s incapacity.
Background
BR Madison, LLC brought an action under the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (RPAPL) article 15 [action to quiet title to real property] to confirm title to a Hempstead property obtained via a 2018 tax lien sale. The Village mailed McCord a March 1, 2018 notice of tax lien sale and published notices on April 13, 20, and 27, 2018; a tax sale certificate issued May 3, 2018. A notice of redemption was mailed (first-class and certified) on September 15, 2020, stating six months to redeem. After no redemption, a treasurer’s deed conveyed the property to BR Madison on April 28, 2021. McCord died in June 2021; her heir, Paris J. Woods, appeared and opposed BR Madison’s summary judgment motion, averring McCord was an unadjudicated incompetent due to dementia at the time of the notices and submitting February 27, 2018 hospital discharge instructions referencing dementia and Alzheimer’s medications. Woods later moved to renew with additional medical records and a letter from McCord’s primary care physician supporting the dementia diagnosis during the relevant period.
Lower Court Decision
The Supreme Court, Nassau County, granted BR Madison’s motion for summary judgment, declaring it the record holder and owner of all rights, title, and interest in the property. The court later denied Woods’s motion for leave to renew his opposition.
Appellate Division Reversal
The Appellate Division dismissed the direct appeal from the March 7, 2022 order as subsumed by the final order and judgment, and reviewed those issues on the appeal from the order and judgment under CPLR 5501(a)(1) [permits review on appeal from a final judgment of issues raised in prior nonfinal orders]. It reversed the March 23, 2022 order and judgment, denied BR Madison’s motion for summary judgment, dismissed as academic the appeal from the April 6, 2023 order denying renewal, and awarded one bill of costs to Woods. The court held that while the plaintiff’s proof of mailing and publication was facially sufficient, Woods raised a triable issue of fact about McCord’s incompetence at the time of notice—potentially depriving her of due process under Mullane v Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. and Covey v Town of Somers—and no showing of the plaintiff’s knowledge of incapacity is required.
Legal Significance
In tax lien–based quiet title actions under RPAPL article 15, standard mailed and published notices may be facially adequate, but evidence that the owner was incompetent when the notices issued can create a triable due process issue that precludes summary judgment. Following Covey and Blum, a challenger need not prove the lienholder knew of the incapacity to raise a constitutional adequacy question.
Evidence of the property owner’s incompetence at the time of tax lien and redemption notices can defeat summary judgment in a quiet title action, even where notice was properly mailed and published, because due process may not be satisfied.