Recording acts and priority

Recording statutes determine priority between competing interests in land. There are three types and the differences decide cases.

Race. The first to record wins, regardless of notice. Few states use this for deeds; some use it for particular interests.

Notice. A subsequent bona fide purchaser for value without notice prevails over a prior unrecorded interest, whether or not the later purchaser records first.

Race-notice. A subsequent purchaser must both take without notice and record first. This is the most common form.

Notice comes in three kinds. Actual notice; constructive notice from the public records; and inquiry notice from facts that would prompt a reasonable person to investigate — most importantly, someone in possession who is not the record owner.

Chain of title. A recorded instrument outside the chain — recorded too early, too late, or under a name that a standard search would not reach — may not give constructive notice. Wild deeds and after-acquired title problems arise here.

Practical consequences. Record promptly. Inspect the property, because possession by a stranger defeats bona fide purchaser status. And confirm the searcher ran the correct names, including prior owners and entity variants, because a missed link is invisible until it is expensive.