Also known as: record of documents affecting interest in property · recording acts · notice recording
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A hearsay exception for the record of a document that purports to establish or affect an interest in property when the record is admitted to prove the content of the original recorded document along with its signing and delivery, the record is kept in a public office, and a statute authorizes recording documents of that kind in that office.
Green River Guardians offers certified copies of the county land records database showing no environmental covenant recorded against Riverside's parcel. The database is the office's sole statutorily authorized system for title documents. The court admits the records under the exception to prove the absence of any recorded restriction.
A purchaser's attorney searches the grantor index under the seller's full name and finds no easement recorded in that chain. The prior easement appears only under an abbreviated name in a stranger's deed. The court admits the official index records under the exception to establish that the easement lies outside the chain of title.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
State A offers the certified recording of its deed to prove it took without notice of Stephen's unrecorded interest. The county clerk's office maintains the official title database under statutory authority. The court admits the record under the exception to show the timing and content of the conveyance.
Oklahoma offers certified copies of the land records database to prove its deed was recorded first and that no prior deed appeared at the time of purchase. The database is statutorily authorized for title documents. The court admits the records under the exception to establish lack of notice and first recording.
Gate Signal offers the recorded installment contract to prove it paid forty percent and recorded before Crest Fiber recorded its deed. The county office maintains the contract as an authorized title document. The court admits the record under the exception to establish the extent of equitable protection under the recording act.
Liberty Growers offers the recorded installment contract to prove its forty-percent payment and possession. The prior unrecorded claimant appears after the partial payment. The court admits the record under the exception to support awarding the land to the prior claimant while granting Liberty Growers a lien for amounts paid.
The record must be kept in a public office, a statute must authorize recording of that type of document in that office, and the record must be offered to prove the content of the original document along with its signing and delivery. These elements ensure the record is reliable and maintained under official authority.
No. The exception applies regardless of the declarant's availability because the reliability stems from the public office maintenance and statutory authorization rather than the declarant's unavailability.
Yes. When the database is the office's sole statutorily authorized system for recording title documents, certified copies reflecting what the database shows about a parcel satisfy the public office and statutory authorization requirements.
Yes. Certified records showing that no environmental covenant or similar document appears in the official database are admissible to prove the nonexistence of any recorded restriction affecting the property.