Jeremiah 29:11, Inc. v. Seifert, 284 Kan. 468

Summary

The Kansas Supreme Court considered whether a subsequent purchaser was bound by restrictive covenants in a recorded 1978 warranty deed that the original grantees never signed. The court held that the missing grantee signatures made the deed insufficient to provide constructive notice of the covenant to the subsequent purchaser, reversing the Court of Appeals and affirming the district court.

Holdings

1. The absence of the Dallingas' signatures on the 1978 deed made the recorded instrument insufficient to provide constructive notice of the restrictive covenant to Jeremiah. A subsequent purchaser without actual or constructive notice is not bound by the covenant.
2. The Jordans could not release an interest they no longer held when they executed the 2002 release.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a restrictive covenant in a recorded deed containing intended but absent grantee signatures provides constructive notice to a subsequent purchaser.
2. Whether the 2002 release executed by the original grantors could release the restrictive covenant after the grantors no longer owned an interest in the property.

Disposition

reversed