Also known as: purchasers in good faith · good faith purchaser · good faith purchasers · bona fide purchaser · bona fide purchasers · BFP
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A purchaser who acquires an interest in property for value, in good faith, and without notice of prior adverse claims or defects in title. Such a purchaser receives protection under recording acts and similar doctrines that cut off earlier unrecorded or defective interests.
Pedro Pacheco buys land from a seller who had previously conveyed the same parcel to another buyer. Pedro pays fair market value and records his deed before the first buyer records. Under the jurisdiction's notice statute, Pedro prevails because he took without notice of the prior deed.
Pierre Poulin purchases property from a grantor who had given an unrecorded easement to a neighbor. Visible signs of the easement exist on the land at the time of purchase. Pierre records first but loses priority because the visible use gave him inquiry notice of the prior interest.
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Pablo Perez obtains possession of machinery through duress. He then sells the equipment to Precision Tools, which pays value and has no knowledge of the duress. Precision Tools acquires good title as a bona fide purchaser and defeats the original owner's conversion claim.
Philip Powell and a seller agree on contract terms but sign a writing that contains a mutual mistake. A court refuses to reform the writing because doing so would unfairly impair the rights of Premier Manufacturing, a later good-faith purchaser for value who relied on the recorded document.
Pilar Pena receives a forged deed to real property. She sells to Prime Logistics, which pays value, lacks notice of the forgery, and records first. In a notice jurisdiction, Prime Logistics holds good title against the true owner.
Penelope Price enters an installment land contract and pays half the price before learning of a prior unrecorded claim. The court awards the land to the prior claimant but grants Penelope a lien for the amount already paid, treating her as a bona fide purchaser to that extent.
The purchaser must take in good faith, give valuable consideration, and lack actual or constructive notice of the prior unrecorded interest at the time of acquisition. Failure on any element defeats priority.
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In some jurisdictions a subsequent bona fide purchaser who takes without notice and records first may be protected against the true owner, depending on the type of recording statute and applicable chain-of-title rules.
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A court may reform a writing to reflect the parties' true agreement except to the extent that doing so would unfairly affect the rights of good-faith purchasers for value who relied on the original document.
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The court may award the land to the prior claimant but grant the contract purchaser a lien on the property equal to the payments already made, recognizing the purchaser's status as a bona fide purchaser to that extent.
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