Hauck v. Crawford
Supreme Court of South Dakota
62 N.W.2d 92 (1953)
Hauck (plaintiff), a farmer with an eighth-grade education, agreed to lease his farm for oil and gas operations to D.W. Crawford (defendant) and others, but the paperwork Crawford presented and directed Hauck to sign was actually a deed conveying half of Hauck's mineral rights, with no mention of a mineral deed ever discussed. Crawford then conveyed those rights to White and Duncan (defendants). Hauck sued to quiet title; the trial court voided the deeds on a forgery theory and found White and Duncan were bona fide purchasers, without addressing whether they knew of Crawford's fraud. Crawford, White, and Duncan appealed, arguing Hauck's own negligence in signing should bar relief.
Whether a landowner fraudulently induced to sign a deed transferring his property rights may void that deed's subsequent conveyance to a bona fide purchaser, if the landowner was negligent in signing.