Marino v. United Bank of Illinois, N.A.
Illinois Appellate Court
484 N.E.2d 935 (1985)
Marino (plaintiff) bid at a sheriff's foreclosure sale without personally checking the property title, instead asking a fill-in attorney, Kream, whether there were liens; Kream, unfamiliar with the case, looked through the file and said she saw none she was aware of, while expressly noting her unfamiliarity. Marino purchased the property, later discovered additional encumbrances, and moved to vacate the sale based on reliance on Kream's statement; the trial court initially invalidated the sale (finding no fraud but crediting reliance), then on reconsideration confirmed the sale, and Marino appealed.
Whether the doctrine of caveat emptor allocates the risk of property title defects to the buyer if the defects could have been discovered through a title search.