BAKER, C.J.
Here, a business had a perfected security interest in farm equipment. The debtor traded the equipment to a second business, which was aware of the liens but relied upon statements made by third parties that the liens had been satisfied. Rather than relying on the statements of third parties, the second business should have contacted the lienholder directly. The lienholder filed a claim for replevin and we conclude that the trial court erred by denying its request for prejudgment possession of the equipment.
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New Holland avers that it believed that Deere’s liens had been satisfied, notwithstanding the fact that it never contacted Deere to confirm that fact. New Holland asked Hostetler, who stated that the liens had been satisfied, and Farmers State Bank, which also stated that the liens had been satisfied, and chose to rely on those statements rather than contact the lienholder itself. In other words, New Holland is raising an affirmative defense that it was a bona fide purchaser because it relied in good faith on the information it gleaned from Hostetler and Farmers State Bank.
The defense of being a bona fide purchaser is primarily found in the context of real estate transactions. Assuming without deciding that it likewise applies in the context of secured transactions, we note that to qualify as a bona fide purchaser, a party must establish that it obtained the property at issue without actual or constructive notice of any adverse claims to the property. KeyBank Nat’l Assoc. v. NBD Bank, 699 N.E.2d 322, 327 (Ind. Ct. App. 1998). Here, New Holland had actual notice of Deere’s perfected security interest in the equipment. Although it relied upon the statements of Hostetler and Farmers State Bank to surmise that the liens had been satisfied, we can only conclude that such reliance was simply not reasonable.
As a general rule, we find that it is unreasonable to rely on the statements of third parties—or the debtor—about the current status of security interests. Specifically, Hostetler had every reason to be untruthful—and, indeed, New Holland acknowledges that it is aware that customers often misrepresent the status of liens on equipment offered in trade. . . . Although it was, perhaps, more reasonable to rely on statements made by bank employees, there is simply no excuse for New Holland’s failure to contact Deere directly. Its decision to rely on statements made by a third party removes any defense it may have had as a bona fide purchaser.
Pursuant to these undisputed facts, it could not be clearer that it is reasonably probable that Deere is entitled to possession, use, and disposition of the property, pending final adjudication of the claims of the parties. Therefore, we find that the trial court erred as a matter of law by denying Deere’s motion for prejudgment possession of the equipment, permitting New Holland to sell the equipment, and ordering Deere to release its liens.
NAJAM, J., and MATHIAS, J., concur.