Gamerberg v. 3000 E. 11th Street, LLC

Summary

The California Court of Appeal reversed a judgment recognizing an unrecorded parking affidavit as an irrevocable license binding on a subsequent purchaser. The court held that an irrevocable license is not enforceable against a subsequent purchaser who acquired the property without actual or constructive notice, particularly where the interest was neither visible nor recorded. The case was remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. An irrevocable license is not enforceable against a subsequent purchaser of the burdened property who takes without actual or constructive notice of the license.
2. A license may become irrevocable when the licensee, in reasonable reliance on the licensor's representations or the license terms, makes substantial expenditures of money or labor, but irrevocability does not eliminate the notice requirement applicable to subsequent purchasers.
3. The parking affidavit's filing in LADBS records did not provide the constructive notice that recorded documents of title provide and therefore did not bind the subsequent purchaser.

Questions Presented

1. Whether an irrevocable license created by expenditures made in reliance on a parking agreement is binding on a subsequent purchaser of the burdened property who took title without actual or constructive notice.
2. Whether an unrecorded parking affidavit filed only in governmental building-permit records provides constructive notice sufficient to bind a subsequent purchaser.
3. Whether the trial court properly upheld the parking affidavit as an irrevocable license against the LLC's successor.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded