What to Ask the Courts to Declare: Quiet Title

More and more parties are coming forth with complaints for Declaratory Relief. We need a more precise understanding of what we are asking the courts to declare. What is the end result the Plaintiff is looking to walk away with? This is not about equity. This is about law.

A declaratory judgment is a legal determination of the rights of the parties. It is not about what is fair. It is about what the law says. When you file a complaint for declaratory relief, you are asking the court to determine the legal rights of the parties based on the law, not on equitable principles.

What Determination Is Being Sought?

What determination of the court is being sought? Is that determination a viable solution for the results you are looking for? The results of the Declaratory Relief Complaint will determine the future actions of the plaintiff.

In many cases, a determination is needed as to the validity of documentation filed into public record that is being challenged, as well as the acquiring of any rights to any claim to title of real property. The courts must make a legal determination as to the legal position of the litigants. Why, in this writer’s opinion, would you allow another party to exercise a right on your property without lawful authority to do so?

If a party has recorded a document claiming a right to your property, and that party has no lawful authority to make that claim, you have the right to ask the court to declare the document invalid. A quiet title investigation provides the evidentiary foundation for such a declaration.

Showing Facts of an Actual Controversy

The plaintiff must show facts demonstrating the existence of an actual controversy relating to the legal rights and duties of the respective parties, as well as:

• Facts which, if proved, will demonstrate invasion or threatened invasion of the plaintiff’s legal rights, or failure of the defendant to discharge a legal duty respecting the plaintiff’s rights, and will justify exercise of the court’s discretion in granting declaratory judgment in favor of the plaintiff.
• Citation of the statute under which the action is brought, when required.

The court will not issue an advisory opinion. The court will not declare rights in the abstract. There must be a real, live dispute. The plaintiff must show that their legal rights have been invaded or are threatened with invasion, and that the defendant has failed to discharge a legal duty.

Putting the Complete Package Together

Putting the complete package together for the court in a proper format is what allows the court to make a proper ruling. When the complaint is incomplete in stating the correct arguments, facts, or statutes, bad rulings are made. Bad rulings turn into bad case law.

An incomplete or poorly drafted complaint does not just affect your client’s case. It affects every case that comes after. Bad rulings become precedent. Precedent is what the courts rely on when they decide the next case. If your complaint fails to state the proper arguments, fails to cite the proper statutes, and fails to present the proper facts, the resulting bad ruling will be cited by banks in future cases to defeat other homeowners.

Proper Analysis Is Essential

The courts will not argue for you. If you are going to make a statement, back it up with facts and show, with statutes, how it is relevant to the situation.

If you are challenging a document that purports to be an Assignment, one of the first questions I would ask is: Was the document eligible to be recorded? The purpose of an Assignment is to memorialize the sale of the Tangible Promissory Note and the acquisition of rights. The assignment does not cause the sale. The assignment memorializes a transfer that has already taken place. If the transfer never took place, the assignment is a fabrication. A chain of title analysis traces these transfers to determine what actually happened. If the assignment was executed by a party that had no interest to assign, the assignment is void regardless of when it was executed or how it was recorded.

Be Careful with Admissions

Be careful about making admissions. They will come back and bite you.

The plaintiff, in describing the background of the case, may inadvertently admit facts that undermine their own position. Acknowledging that the assignment was properly recorded, or that the bank is the current servicer, or that the homeowner was in default, can all be used against the plaintiff later. Every word in the complaint must be carefully chosen. Every fact must be analyzed for its potential impact. No admission should be made without understanding its full implications.

The declaratory relief complaint is the foundation of your case. Build it with proper analysis, proper arguments, proper facts, and proper statutes. Do not assume the court will understand your argument without you making it explicitly. Do not assume the court will find the right statute without you citing it.

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Joseph Esquivel, Mortgage Compliance Investigators. Copyrighted, all rights reserved.