Also known as: recording acts · recording statute · recording statutes
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A statutory system for recording deeds and other instruments affecting title to real property. The system determines priority among competing claimants under race, notice, or race-notice rules and protects subsequent purchasers who take without notice of unrecorded interests and who record.
Robert Rivera conveyed Blackacre to Ravi Reddy by deed that Reddy failed to record. Rivera then conveyed the same parcel to Rosa Ruiz, who recorded her deed first. Under the race statute, Ruiz prevails because she recorded before Reddy.
Rhea Reynolds purchased a parcel from a grantor whose deed appeared in the official chain. An easement granted by the same grantor to a stranger appeared in a separate recorded instrument outside that chain. Reynolds takes free of the easement because it lies outside her chain of title.
Ruby Rivera bought land from a seller who had previously conveyed an unrecorded interest to Rosalind Reed. Rivera paid value and had no actual or constructive notice of Reed's claim when she purchased. Rivera prevails under the notice statute because she recorded and lacked notice of the prior interest.
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Ravi Reddy acquired property from a grantor who had already conveyed an unrecorded interest to Robert Rivera. Reddy paid value, lacked notice of the prior conveyance, and recorded first. Reddy prevails under the race-notice statute because he satisfies the good-faith, valuable-consideration, and first-to-record requirements.
A forger executed a deed purporting to convey Rosa Ruiz's land to Riverfront Developments. Riverfront paid value, recorded without notice of the forgery, and claimed protection under the recording act. The forged deed conveyed no title, so Riverfront's status as a subsequent purchaser turns on whether the jurisdiction's race, notice, or race-notice rule shields it from the true owner's claim.
Rosalind Reed entered an installment land contract for a parcel, paid forty percent of the price, and took possession. A prior unrecorded claimant then appeared. The court awards the land to Reed but grants the prior claimant a lien securing the balance of the purchase price still owed.
Race statutes award priority to the first party to record. Notice statutes protect a subsequent purchaser who takes without notice of a prior unrecorded interest. Race-notice statutes require both lack of notice and first recording by the subsequent purchaser.
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A purchaser is charged with constructive notice only of instruments appearing in the chain of title through which the purchaser claims. An instrument recorded outside that chain, such as a deed from a common grantor to a stranger, does not provide constructive notice.
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A purchaser who has inquiry notice of a prior unrecorded claim is not a bona fide purchaser. That purchaser therefore cannot prevail over the prior interest under notice or race-notice statutes.
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A forged deed is void and conveys no title. Whether a subsequent bona fide purchaser who records can obtain protection depends on the jurisdiction's race, notice, or race-notice statute and the application of chain-of-title and shelter rules.
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A court may award title to the prior claimant while granting the installment purchaser an equitable lien securing the amount already paid, balancing the interests under the recording act.
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…lot and all lots within its scope, and defendants and their predecessors in title were bound by constructive notice under our recording acts. The original plan was repeatedly declared in subsequent sales of lots by restrictions in the deeds, and while some lots sold were not so restricted the purchasers thereof, in every…