Also known as: puts on inquiry · putting on inquiry · put on inquiry notice · duty to inquire · inquiry notice · constructive notice
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Circumstances that alert a reasonable person to the possible existence of an adverse claim or defect and thereby trigger a duty to investigate further. The resulting inquiry notice prevents a party from claiming bona fide purchaser status or from asserting lack of knowledge in subsequent disputes.
Preston Pratt purchases Blackacre from Seller after reviewing the recorded deeds. An earlier deed from Seller's predecessor to a third party that created an easement appears in the recorded chain. Pratt takes the property subject to the easement because the recorded instrument placed him on inquiry notice of the prior interest.
Paula Pierce buys Whiteacre from a grantor whose recorded title traces back through a common owner. A recorded easement granted by that common owner to a stranger appears in a separate chain. Pierce acquires free of the easement because the instrument lies outside her chain of title and does not place her on inquiry notice.
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Paul Peterson contracts to buy Greenacre and pays value. A recorded but unindexed prior mortgage exists, and the property shows physical signs of the mortgagee's possession. Peterson cannot prevail under the recording act because the signs placed him on inquiry notice of the prior interest, destroying bona fide purchaser status.
Circumstances that would alert a reasonable person to the possible existence of an unrecorded interest trigger the duty to investigate. A purchaser who fails to investigate cannot claim protection as a bona fide purchaser without notice.
Supporting sources
No. Only instruments appearing in the chain through which the purchaser traces title provide constructive notice. An easement or covenant recorded in a stranger's chain lies outside the purchaser's chain and does not trigger inquiry notice.
Supporting sources
A subsequent purchaser who has inquiry notice of a prior unrecorded interest cannot qualify as a bona fide purchaser. The purchaser therefore loses priority to the prior interest even if the purchaser records first.
Supporting sources
…of the SmartDownload license agreement prior to acting, so that plaintiffs may be held to have assented to that agreement with constructive notice of its terms. See Cal. Civ.Code § 1589 (“A voluntary acceptance of the benefit of a transaction is equivalent to a consent to all the obligations arising from it, so fax- as the facts are…