Rodgers-Vieira

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

The Property Plaintiffs were family members who co-owned an 800-acre property in San Joaquin County (property). The probate court appointed referee Susan Lenz to sell the property. Lenz hired Kevin Dougherty, a real estate broker, to market the property, which was divided into six separate adjoining parcels for sale. Dougherty hired John Glick, a land surveyor, to assess whether there were any title problems; Glick performed some lot line adjustments in 2016 and created new legal descriptions and boundary lines for each parcel. Glick prepared and recorded documents reflecting the parcels’ new legal descriptions. The Title Issue In September 2016, plaintiffs sold Parcel 1 to a group of buyers. Dougherty hired First American to handle the escrow and title, to include providing the grant deed that included a legal description of the property being transferred. First American prepared a grant deed and deed of trust for Parcel 1, which it recorded at the county recorder’s office on September 27, 2016 (2016 deeds). It was undisputed at trial that the 2016 deeds contained an incorrect legal description of Parcel 1, which in turn affected the legal descriptions of…