race to the courthouse

Also found in: Legal, Wikipedia.

race to the courthouse

In a pure race state, the first party to file a deed, mortgage, or other instrument will take priority—will be given effect—before instruments filed afterward.As a result, a situation sometimes arises when there is a possibility of competing claims, such as a spouse or creditor who wants to file a claim against property before it is sold to another. In such situations, there is a race to the courthouse to file first—before anyone else.

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

Race to the courthouse -- Debts placed directly with law firms are usually sued upon quicker those placed with collection agencies.

Do you need a collection agency or a law firm? What you need to know before you decide

The race to the courthouse by other creditors may quickly remove the debtor's most valuable assets from the reach of its unsecured trade creditors.

When filing an involuntary bankruptcy petition makes sense

John Lynch and the Senate to craft language to amend the Constitution that will stop the race to the courthouse and end the nonsense and instability of spreadsheet politics.

The GOP agenda: cut spending, help business: these are not just the priorities of House Republicans, but of Granite Staters who sent a clear message in November

The results are in as LitWatch releases its most recent compilation of the race to the courthouse by the busiest securities fraud class action law firms in the country.