Also known as: recording act · recording statute · recording statutes
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A statutory scheme by which deeds and other instruments affecting title to real property are recorded in public records. The scheme determines priority among competing claimants according to whether the jurisdiction follows a race, notice, or race-notice statute.
Rita Russell conveys Blackacre to Rebecca Ross by deed. Rebecca fails to record. Rita then conveys the same parcel to Raymond Ramos, who immediately records his deed. Under the applicable race statute, Raymond prevails over Rebecca because he recorded first.
Ravi Reddy purchases a parcel from a grantor whose deed is recorded. An easement granted by the same grantor to a stranger appears in a separate recorded instrument outside the chain. Ravi takes without actual knowledge of the easement. The easement does not bind Ravi because it lies outside his chain of title.
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Regina Robinson buys land from a seller who previously conveyed an unrecorded interest to another party. Regina pays value, takes without notice of the prior interest, and records her deed. Under the notice statute, Regina prevails over the prior unrecorded claimant.
Rosalind Reed acquires property for value without notice of a prior unrecorded deed. She records her deed before the prior grantee records. Under the race-notice statute, Rosalind prevails because she satisfies the good-faith, value, and first-to-record requirements.
A forger executes a deed purporting to convey land owned by Ridgeway Partners. The forger records the deed. Reliance Insurance later purchases from the forger for value without notice and records. In a jurisdiction applying the recording act to protect bona fide purchasers, Reliance may prevail over the true owner depending on the statute type and chain-of-title rules.
Riverside Healthcare contracts to buy land on installments and pays forty percent before a prior unrecorded claimant appears. The court awards the land to Riverside but grants the prior claimant a lien on the property to secure the balance of the purchase price still owed under the contract.
Race statutes award priority to the first party to record. Notice statutes protect a subsequent bona fide 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 receives constructive notice only of instruments appearing in the chain of title through which the purchaser claims. Instruments recorded outside that chain, such as deeds from a common grantor to a stranger, do not provide notice.
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The purchaser must take in good faith, give valuable consideration, and lack actual or constructive notice of the prior interest at acquisition. Inquiry notice of a prior claim defeats bona fide purchaser status.
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A forged deed is void and conveys no title. A subsequent bona fide purchaser who records may still receive protection in some jurisdictions depending on the type of recording statute and applicable chain-of-title or shelter rules.
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A court may award title to the prior claimant while granting the contract purchaser a lien securing the amount already paid, balancing the equities between the parties.
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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…