What if a former girl friend added her name to an unrecorded deed for your property and then recorded it?

Answer 1

She violated the law and you should file a criminal complaint. You could also bring an action in a court of equity and win a judgment against her. A court order would transfer the title to your name if the deed was legitimate. In any case you need to clear the title to the property. The court could be easily persuaded if the name she added does not match the other text on the deed. Also, the deed would have been returned to you at your address after it was entered into the records.

The bigger question is why you have an unrecorded deed lying around. You are not the record owner of the property until the deed is recorded. You cannot insure the property or collect if it burns down. In your case, you found that an unrecorded deed can be tampered with or stolen.

One of the best features of a modern society is the system of land registration that organizes and documents land ownership. Someone who is in possession of an unrecorded deed is treading on dangerous ground.

Every state in the United States has its own recording statutes that address the recording in the land records of written instruments that affect the ownership of real property. There are three types of recording statutes: race, notice and race-notice. The purpose of the recording statutes is to give notice to the community that there has been a change in ownership or that there has been an encumbrance made against the real estate.

Under the race process the priority of ownership in the case of more than one grantee would be determined by the first to record their deed. That priority would also apply in the other two types of recording statute states as long as the successive grantee was not given notice that the land had already been conveyed or encumbered.

In practical terms this means that if an owner of land conveyed the property to two different grantees with the first not recording their deed, the second would own the property if they recorded their deed and if they had no notice of the first deed. The first grantee who didn't record their deed would only have a monetary claim against the grantor, they would not own the land.

Generally, until the deed is recorded it can only be upheld against the grantor. If the deed remains unrecorded it can be lost, stolen, destroyed or accidently discarded. If that happens there is no record of the purchase.

Should the grantor forget they conveyed the property to you and years later conveys the land to another grantee and THEY record their deed, that grantee would be the owner of the land. They announced their ownership to the world by recording their deed. Your deed would be only good for making a claim against the grantor to regain your purchase price if you sue in court and if you prevail.

A more serious and difficult situation will result if the grantor died and you need to sue her heirs or estate. On the other hand, if the grantee in an unrecorded deed dies without recording it, their heirs will encounter legal problems in trying to claim the land, or, they may never know you purchased it.

Another problem with not recording a deed arises if a creditor records a lien against the "former owner" who is actually still the record owner. The new owner is out of luck if they didn't record their deed. When you don't record your deed you create the possibility that liens will be recorded against the prior owner and the property will be subject to all of them. You can't sell the land until you record your deed, and, you may have to pay off liens at that time.

If you don't record your deed you will not receive tax bills. If you don't receive them you won't know when the taxes are due and they may become delinquent. In that case the town can take possession of the property and you will never know.

Deeds should always be recorded immediately.