Ulman

Appellant Gates Rubber Company appeals from a judgment which denied appellant specific performance of an unrecorded option agreement giving it the right to purchase certain property in the 20th year of a 25-year lease of that property from a predecessor-in-interest of Charles Ulman. The term of the lease commenced in 1963. Charles Ulman purchased the property in 1969. Appellant attempted to exercise the option in 1983. Respondents Harry R. Ulman and his wife Gisela Ulman are cotrustees of the testamentary trust established under the will of the late Charles Ulman, Harry Ulman’s father.

Appellant contends (1) its possession of the property created a duty of inquiry as to all its rights in the subject property, including its option to purchase, and Charles Ulman’s failure to investigate precludes his having the status of a bona fide purchaser without notice; (2) appellant’s possession was inconsistent with “record title,” even if that term is construed to include a lessee’s recorded leasehold interest in the property; (3) the evidence does not support the trial court’s finding that appellant had unclean hands, and that finding is erroneous as a matter of law; and (4)…