Landlord/owner dispute: appellant challenges sale and says buyer failed to show good‑faith reliance on trustee certificate

Appellant Willie Murdock, through counsel John Zajac, challenged a summary process judgment and the underlying sale of family property to South Coast Redevelopment. Zajac argued the trustee sold the property without required beneficiary votes and that the buyer failed to show it acted in good faith; he said the record lacked affidavits from the buyer or title agent demonstrating what the buyer knew about the trust or what it relied upon when acquiring the deed.

Zajac said the trust required beneficiary consent or other procedural steps that were not followed, and he said the record lacked steps such as probate of the grantor’s estate and a certificate from a personal representative. He noted the purchaser paid $250,000 for a house whose market value, he said, was substantially higher and said the trustee did not give Mr. Murdock a meaningful opportunity to purchase.

Counsel for South Coast (Andrew Ruff) told the panel the buyer paid valuable consideration, obtained a title search and title insurance from First American Title, and relied on the trustee certificate in good faith. Ruff argued the trust contains provisions that protect third parties dealing with the trustee and that permitting this appeal to unwind every trustee certificate would be destabilizing; he also noted his client has borne carrying costs for nearly three years while unable to obtain possession.

The justices questioned whether the housing court record could have been supplemented by affidavits from the buyer or title company, explored the extent to which the trust’s “four‑corners” language shields third‑party purchasers, and asked why Mr. Murdock had not pursued a direct equitable challenge to the trustee’s conduct or raised probate matters. The panel took argument and reserved decision.