Property
Recording Statute
Definition
Recording statutes govern the priority of competing claims to real property by determining the effect of recording (or failing to record) a deed or other conveyance. There are three types: race statutes (first to record wins, regardless of notice), notice statutes (a subsequent bona fide purchaser without notice prevails over a prior unrecorded conveyance), and race-notice statutes (a subsequent bona fide purchaser without notice who records first prevails). Recording provides constructive notice to the world of the conveyance.
Example
O sells Blackacre to A (who does not record), then to B (a bona fide purchaser without notice). Under a notice statute, B prevails even if B has not yet recorded.