Recording (Module 13)

Question 1

Types of Recording Statutes

Answer 1

Race: B wins if records properly before A

Notice: B wins if they are a BFP when they took (i.e., paid valuable consideration and had no notice)
*note - B doesn’t have to record in order to win, but they should if they don’t want the same thing to happen to them

Race-Notice: B must be a BFP when they took and also record before A

Question 2

Elements of a Bona Fide Purchaser

Answer 2

1) purchased (not by will, gift, or inheritable)
2) for valuable consideration
3) had no notice (record, actual, or inquiry) of the prior conveyance

Question 3

Types of Notice (Recording Statutes)

Answer 3

Actual - actual knowledge

Inquiry - B is charged with what inspection of the property would have revealed (is someone else in possession of it)

Record - B needs to check that A’s deed was properly recorded

Question 4

Chain of Title

Answer 4

To give record notice a deed must be properly recorded in the chain of title, which is established through a title search by the buyer

Question 5

The Shelter Rule (Chain of Title Issue)

Answer 5

Anyone who takes from a BFP, even if they themselves are not a BFP, will have the same protections as the BFP who conveyed to them against a claim to title

If O conveys to A but A never records, then O conveys to B who does record, then B gifts to C (i.e., C is not a BFP), then C still have superior claim over A

C “steps into the shoes” of the BFP B

Question 6

Wild Deed (Chain of Title Issue)

Answer 6

Wild deed is a recorded deed that isn’t connected to the chain of title

Example
O –> A, A does not record
A –> B, B does record
then
O –> C, who is a BFP

The A –> B recording is a wild deed and C wouldn’t have record notice of it because it is missing from the chain of title, so C takes regardless of the type of recording statute state it is

Question 7

Estoppel by Deed (Chain of Title Issue)

Answer 7

Issue where O conveys property they do not actually own to A,

After that O –> A conveyance, O does actually obtain title to the previously sold land

The later-in-time acquired title is retroactively applied to the O –> A conveyance

But A’s getting the land is faulty even if they record, because they should be on record notice that O didn’t actually have title to the land

Example of this w/ an added wrinkle:
1990: O –> A, who records, but O does not actually have title
1995: O obtains title to that original land; then O –> B that same land, B records
Result: A did own the land from 1990-1995 because the deed retroactively applied to that sale, but now B is the true owner because A’s recording was a wild deed and wouldn’t show up in the chain of title, so B wouldn’t have record notice

This is fucking hard