recording acts

recording acts

State statutes that govern the official recording of deeds and other real estate documents and the effects of such recording as to creditors, subsequent purchasers, and other interested parties. There are three varieties of recording statutes:

1. Notice acts provide that a person with notice of an unrecorded instrument is barred from claiming priority over it, as of the date the person received notice.

2. Race acts (“race to the courthouse”) provide that the first person to record takes priority, even if that person had notice of a prior unrecorded instrument.

3. Race-notice acts provide that the first to record without notice of a prior unrecorded instrument has the better rights.