Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Oklahoma

Re: Quit Claim filed to 3rd party before 1st filed

Fraud may be a defense to the contract, but time may be against you. Find an attorney where the contract was signed or where the land was located; I think those are you two options. We might be able to give you a free referral, but don't wait for us before you start looking; you'll need an attorney on this and you obviously should have had one 7 years ago.

Re: Quit Claim filed to 3rd party before 1st filed

Well, you have the first hurdle out of the way - if there is fraud found here, it will be "fraud in the factum" rather than "fraud in the inducement" because when you signed the document, you didn't know its true nature. This distinction may make the difference between a case that the deed is void and conveyed no title, or that it was merely voidable but until voided carried sufficient title to allow good title to be conveyed to the third party buyer if that latter purchase was in good faith for fair value and the buyer had no notice of the fraud, I.e. was a bona fide purchaser or BFP.

For a good discussion of the difference between the two types of fraud, try Google and look at the definitions by Wikipedia and a few others.

You might win a quiet title suit if either (1) the deed was void from the get-go due to fraud in the factum (you're not home free on this because you'll have to show that it was reasonable for you not to read and understand the last page) or (2) the third-party buyer wasn't a BFP. Your facts don't tell us much about the BFP question, but very possibly he was not a BFP for value.

If you meet either test (1) or (2), the next hurdle is the statute of limitations. Again, your facts are too skimpy to really inform a lawyer adequately. For example, who has been in physical possession of the house at each step of the way here? It is possibly crucial to know if the occupant was you yourself, your tenant, the person with the quitclaim deed, or the third party, and to know this for each step of the way starting back before the quitclaim 7 years ago. Sounds like the occupant and grantee under the deed was a tenant. This information is necessary to determine whether the statute of limitations bars your suit to regain title. By the way, another factor in determining whether the suit is time-barred by adverse possession is whether you have paid some or none of the property taxes during the last five years.

These recovery-of-title cases are quite technical and require full facts and careful application of the law, but often they can be won, even against downstream bona fide purchasers and after the passage of many years. I would be pleased to take a look at your situation at no cost if you contact me directly, and furnish the additional facts mentioned above and also give me the assessor parcel number of the house.