Property owner brought action against city and community development authority, alleging that a special assessment lien, recorded after a deed of trust, was extinguished by the foreclosure sale and that the special assessments were void.
The Circuit Court granted the pleas in bar and dismissed the complaint. Owner appealed.
The Supreme Court of Virginia held that:
- Special assessment liens have priority over previously recorded deeds of trust;
- Special assessment lien was enforceable against property owner; and
- Owner’s belated challenge to special assessments was foreclosed.
Special assessment lien was enforceable against property owner after foreclosure sale on deed of trust, even though deed of trust was recorded before lien, where city filed in deed book of circuit court clerk’s office an abstract of ordinance authorizing improvements, which made lien enforceable against any person deemed to have had notice of assessment, and owner had notice of assessment and lien when it acquired deed of trust and property at foreclosure.
State constitution and code foreclosed property owner’s belated challenge to special assessments on property that owner acquired following foreclosure sale on deed of trust; owner acquired its interest long after assessment agreement with former owner had been finalized and recorded, assessments approved and recorded, and bonds issued, owner filed suit approximately nine years after special assessments were imposed and bonds issued, and state constitution and code did not contemplate endless challenges from subsequent purchasers who bought property with notice of existence of assessment, notice of agreement with former owner, and notice of what infrastructure had been constructed.