Eastern Savings Bank, Fsb, Defendant-Below v. Cach, LLC, Plaintiff-Below

Summary

The Court affirmed the Superior Court's judgment that CACH's judgment lien had priority over Eastern Savings' later-recorded mortgage under Delaware's pure race recording statute. Although equitable subrogation may preserve a prior lien's priority in appropriate circumstances, the Court held that refinancing alone, without a separate equitable basis, could not displace the statutory priority rule, particularly where Eastern Savings' failure to obtain a timely and accurate title search caused the problem. Justice Seitz, dissenting, would have applied equitable subrogation because Eastern paid the prior liens and CACH was not prejudiced.