The Recording Statutes (What they will look like on the bar)
- Notice Statute: “A conveyance of an interest in land shall not be valid against any subsequent purchaser for value, without notice thereof, unless the conveyance is recorded.
- If, at the time B takes, he is a BFP, he wins. It won’t matter that A may ultimately record first, before B does. It won’t matter, in that A vs. B contest, that B never records. (B, later in time BFP wins)
- Race Notice Statute: “Any conveyance of an interest in land shall not be valid against any subsequent purchaser for value, without notice thereof, whose conveyance is first recorded.
- To prevail, B must (1) be a BFP and B must (2) win the race to record.
- EX: On March 1, O conveys to A, a bona fide purchaser who does not record. On April 1, O conveys the same parcel to B, a bona fide purchaser, who does not record. On May 1, A records.
- Who takes Blackacre in a NOTICE jurisdiction? B, because when B took, he was a BFP.
- Who takes in a RACE-NOTICE jurisdiction? A because A, a BPF won the race to record.
- In the original model in the box, note that in either a notice or race-notice jurisdiction, B’s status as a subsequent BFP will be defeated if A had promptly and properly recorded before B takes. A’s proper recordation places later buyers on record notice, thereby defeating their status as BFPs.
To give record notice to subsequent takers, the deed must be recorded properly within the chain of title – that sequence of recorded documents capable of giving record notice to later takers. In most states, the chain of title is established through a title search of the grantor/grantee index.