recording

In real property law, recording is the process of filing a deed or other document that establishes an interest in property with a municipal recording office, often called a registrar or register of deeds. Recording helps establish ownership and resolve disputes. The specific requirements for recording are set by each jurisdiction’s recording act. Owners or others with an interest in real property must record that interest to prevail in certain ownership disputes. Interests commonly recorded include deeds, mortgages, liens, and easements.

Recording gives future purchasers notice that they are dealing with the property’s actual owner. In the United States, recording offices generally do not verify the validity of claims they record. Recording an interest does not guarantee its accuracy. Prospective buyers or their title companies usually perform a title search to verify ownership of the parcel through the chain of title. A recorded document in the chain of title that conflicts with a purchaser’s claim constitutes constructive notice of a competing interest. This is true even if the purchaser did not investigate the chain of title and was unaware of the conflict. Such constructive notice generally defeats a claim to good-faith purchaser (or bona fide purchaser) status, which might otherwise allow the purchaser to prevail against the rightful owner after purchasing from a fraudulent or mistaken party who possessed only defective title.

Almost all jurisdictions in the United States use a recording system. Many foreign jurisdictions use a registration or Torrens system, in which title is vetted and guaranteed by the state rather than accepted without verification.