Quoting Plaza Corporation Case Summary

Kamara further contends that HSBC’s title is void because the deed was prepared and recorded before Kamara’s motion for the circuit court to reconsider the ratification of the sale was resolved. HSBC, for its part, argues that the title it acquired from the foreclosure sale is a valid enforceable instrument that is only voidable upon a finding of a defect. We agree with HSBC, and hold that the title HSBC acquired from the foreclosure sale was not void. Kamara’s argument that HSBC’s title to the Property is void is premised upon the assertion that a foreclosure sale “does not pass title to the property until ratified by the court.” Fisher v. Fed Nat. Mortg. Ass’n, 360 F. Supp 207, 211 (D. Md. 1973) (quoting Plaza Corp. v. Alban Tractor Co., …show more content…
Briggs], 153 Md. [50,] 55-56, 137 A. [509,] 512 (1927) (emphasis [omitted]). Therefore, while the purchaser of property at a foreclosure sale may not yet have legal title until ratification of the sale by the court and the purchase price paid, as well as the delivery of the deed, an inchoate equitable title does vest for the purchaser at the time of the foreclosure sale. This inchoate equitable title becomes a complete equitable title when the foreclosure sale is ratified by the court. See Simard v. White, 383 Md. 257, 313, 859 A.2d 168, 201 (2004) (stating that “[o]nce the court ratifies the sale, [complete] equitable title passes to the purchaser”) (alterations added). As mentioned, legal title, separate and distinct from equitable title, vests in a foreclosure sale purchaser after ratification of the sale by a court and payment of the purchase …show more content…
Hardy, 386 Md. 628, 646-47 (2005). Accordingly, the moment HSBC won the foreclosure auction on August 22, 2012, it possessed an “inchoate equitable title to the property.” Id. at 650. Upon the ratification of the foreclosure sale “complete equitable title accrues to the purchaser.” Id. “Legal title to the property is not conveyed, however, until the purchase price is paid and other terms of sale, if any, are met and a deed of conveyance delivered.” Id. In this case, Kamara asks this Court to find that HSBC’s title is void because a motion to reconsider the ratification was still pending at the time HSBC recorded its deed. While the specific status of the title held by HSBC is commensurate with the standards set forth in Empire Prop., LLC, it is sufficient for our purposes to hold that the circuit court did not err in finding that HSBC’s title was not