Glidden v. Municipal Authority of Tacoma
Supreme Court of Washington
758 P.2d 487 (1988)
A trustee foreclosed on property subject to liens held by Glidden (plaintiff) and junior lienors including the Municipal Authority of Tacoma (defendant) and Old Stone Bank (OSB), but the trustee recorded and posted notice of sale without directly notifying lienholders as Washington's deeds of trust act required; Tacoma, aware of the posted notice and of OSB's separate, competing foreclosure proceeding (of which OSB had given notice), purchased the property at the sale and received a deed stating notice had been served on all entitled persons, though no junior lienholders attended. When the trustee later discovered OSB never received proper notice and tried to void the sale, Tacoma refused, prompting suit; OSB intervened and won summary judgment on its continuing foreclosure rights, and Tacoma sought direct review, arguing its bona fide purchaser status gave it clean title regardless of the notice defect.
Whether a purchaser at a foreclosure sale who was aware of circumstances suggesting potential flaws in the foreclosure process may be granted bona fide purchaser status on summary judgment without resolving whether the purchaser actually discharged a resulting duty of inquiry.