Also known as: notice statute · notice recording statute
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A type of recording statute under which a subsequent bona fide purchaser for value who takes without notice of a prior unrecorded interest prevails over that interest. The purchaser need not record first to gain priority. The statute protects reliance on the public record by cutting off earlier unrecorded claims against good-faith buyers.
Noreen Nguyen granted Metro Trucking an easement across her parcel but Metro never recorded the instrument and built no visible road. One year later Noreen sold the parcel in fee simple to Nolan Nunez for fair value. Nolan performed a title search that revealed nothing and had no actual or inquiry notice of the easement. Under the jurisdiction's notice recording statute Nolan's recorded deed takes priority over Metro's unrecorded easement.
A forger executed a deed purporting to convey Nina Nielsen's land to Nestor Navarro. Nestor paid value and had no notice of the forgery. Nestor recorded promptly. When Nina later discovered the forgery and sued to quiet title, the jurisdiction's notice statute protected Nestor as a bona fide purchaser without notice. Nina's claim was cut off even though the forged deed was void at common law.
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Under a notice statute a subsequent bona fide purchaser without notice prevails immediately upon closing and need not record first. A race-notice statute adds the requirement that the subsequent purchaser must also be the first to record. Both types protect buyers who lack notice of prior unrecorded interests, but the race element changes the outcome when the prior grantee records before the later purchaser.
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No. The purchaser prevails upon taking without notice even if the purchaser never records. Recording is still advisable to protect against later purchasers, but failure to record does not forfeit priority over the earlier unrecorded interest.
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Yes. A purchaser who has actual notice of the earlier conveyance cannot claim the protection of the statute. The statute protects only those who take without actual, record, or inquiry notice.
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In some jurisdictions a subsequent bona fide purchaser without notice who records may be protected against the true owner's claim even when the deed in the chain is forged. The outcome depends on whether the jurisdiction treats the forged deed as outside the chain of title or allows the recording act to cut off the true owner's interest.
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