Recording acts - Next Generation Bar Exam
- Who qualifies as a bona fide purchaser under the recording acts?
- A person who pays value and takes without notice of the prior interest. Donees and heirs do not qualify, because they do not pay value.
- What does a race-notice recording act provide?
- A subsequent purchaser prevails only if it takes without notice and records first. Both conditions must be met.
- O conveys to A, who does not record. O then sells to B, who pays value without notice. A records, and then B records. Who prevails in a race-notice jurisdiction?
- A, because B took without notice but failed to record first. A race-notice statute protects a subsequent purchaser only if both conditions are met.
- What are the three types of notice that defeat bona fide purchaser status?
- Actual, constructive, and inquiry notice. Constructive notice arises from properly recorded documents.
- O conveys to A, who does not record. O then gives the land to B as a gift, and B records. Who prevails?
- A, because B is a donee who paid no value, and the recording acts protect only purchasers. B's recording is irrelevant, since the statute never reaches a gratuitous transferee.
- O conveys to A, who does not record. O then sells to B, who pays value without notice. A records, and then B records. Who prevails in a notice jurisdiction?
- B, because B was a bona fide purchaser without notice at the time B took. Under a notice statute, the order of recording is irrelevant.
- What is a wild deed?
- A recorded deed outside the chain of title, which does not give constructive notice. A searcher using the grantor-grantee index would not find it.
- What does a race recording act provide?
- The first purchaser to record prevails, regardless of notice. Only a few states follow a pure race statute.
- What is the shelter rule?
- A transferee from a bona fide purchaser takes the bona fide purchaser's protection, even with notice. An exception bars the original wrongdoer from reacquiring protection.
- What is inquiry notice?
- Notice of facts that a reasonable investigation, such as inspecting the land, would reveal. Possession of the land by someone other than the seller commonly triggers inquiry notice.
- Under the majority view, what is the effect of a deed recorded before the grantor acquired title?
- It is outside the chain of title and does not give constructive notice to later purchasers. A minority of jurisdictions charge searchers with notice of such deeds.
- What does a notice recording act provide?
- A subsequent bona fide purchaser without notice prevails over a prior unrecorded interest. The subsequent purchaser need not record first.
- What is estoppel by deed?
- A grantor who conveys land before owning it is bound when the grantor later acquires title. Title passes automatically to the grantee, subject to the recording acts in many jurisdictions.