Also known as: race statute · race recording act · race statutes · pure race statute
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A statutory rule that awards priority to the claimant who first records an instrument affecting title, regardless of whether that claimant had notice of earlier unrecorded interests.
Regina Robinson conveyed a parcel to Riley Rivera by deed in January but left the deed unrecorded. In March Riley conveyed the same parcel to Riverside Healthcare, which paid value and knew of the prior deed to Riley. Riverside recorded its deed in April while Riley recorded only in June. Under the race recording statute Riverside holds superior title because it recorded first.
Roger Ramirez received a deed from Ronald Reed in February but failed to record it. In May Ronald conveyed the identical land to Renee Rogers, who paid full value after a clean title search and recorded her deed the same week. Roger recorded only in July. The race statute gives Renee priority because she was the first to place her deed on the public record.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A pure race statute awards priority solely to the first party to record, even if that party had actual notice of an earlier unrecorded interest. A notice statute instead protects a subsequent purchaser who takes without notice of the prior interest, regardless of who records first. The excerpts explain that race statutes focus exclusively on the order of recording while notice statutes examine the purchaser's state of mind at acquisition.
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No. A race statute grants priority to the first recorder without regard to actual, record, or inquiry notice. The statute's text and the model answers confirm that notice doctrines apply only under notice or race-notice regimes, not under pure race rules.
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It rewards diligence in recording and eliminates hidden claims by making the public record conclusive on priority. The excerpts note that this approach can produce harsh results for good-faith purchasers who search the records yet lose to an earlier deed recorded moments later.
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Only if another party records even earlier. Once the first recorder places the deed on record, later claimants cannot displace that priority regardless of their own lack of notice or payment of value.
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