UBE Recording Acts
Last updated: May 2, 2026
Recording Acts questions are one of the highest-leverage areas to study for the UBE. This guide breaks down the rule, the elements you need to recognize, the named traps that catch most students, and a memory aid that scales to test day. Read it once, then practice the same sub-topic adaptively in the app.
The rule
A recording act is a state statute that resolves priority disputes between successive grantees of conflicting interests in the same parcel of land. At common law, first-in-time, first-in-right governs; recording acts displace that rule by protecting a subsequent purchaser who satisfies the statute's requirements. The three types are race (first to record wins), notice (a subsequent BFP wins, regardless of recording), and race-notice (a subsequent BFP who records first wins). Recording acts protect only purchasers (and mortgagees) for value without notice; they do not protect donees, devisees, or heirs.
Elements breakdown
Race Statute
Whoever records first prevails, regardless of notice.
- Subsequent grantee of same interest
- Records before prior grantee
- Recording in proper chain of title
Common examples:
- Only Louisiana and North Carolina (in part) follow pure race for deeds — high-yield because rare.
Notice Statute
A subsequent bona fide purchaser for value without notice prevails over a prior unrecorded interest, even if the BFP never records.
- Subsequent purchaser or mortgagee
- Pays valuable consideration
- Takes without actual, constructive, or inquiry notice
- At the time of conveyance
Race-Notice Statute
A subsequent bona fide purchaser for value without notice prevails only if she also records before the prior grantee records.
- Subsequent purchaser or mortgagee
- Pays valuable consideration
- Without notice at time of conveyance
- Records before prior grantee records
Bona Fide Purchaser (BFP) Status
A grantee qualifies as a BFP only if she pays value and takes without notice; donees, heirs, and devisees never qualify.
- Purchaser, mortgagee, or lessee
- Gives valuable consideration (not nominal, not love and affection)
- Takes without actual, constructive, or inquiry notice
Actual Notice
The grantee subjectively knows of the prior interest at the time of conveyance.
- Personal, real knowledge of prior interest
- Held at the moment of conveyance
Constructive (Record) Notice
A properly recorded instrument in the grantee's chain of title imputes notice as a matter of law.
- Prior instrument is recorded
- Recorded in grantee's chain of title
- Recorded before subsequent conveyance
Common examples:
- Wild deeds (recorded outside chain of title) do NOT give constructive notice in most jurisdictions.
- Late-recorded deeds (recorded after grantor conveyed out) generally do not give notice.
Inquiry Notice
Facts that would prompt a reasonable purchaser to investigate impose a duty to inquire; the purchaser is charged with what reasonable inquiry would have revealed.
- Visible facts suggest a prior interest
- Reasonable purchaser would investigate
- Inquiry would have revealed the interest
Common examples:
- Possession of land by someone other than the grantor.
- A reference in a recorded deed to an unrecorded instrument.
Shelter Rule
A person who takes from a BFP is sheltered by the BFP's protected status, even if the transferee herself has notice or is a donee.
- Transferor qualified as BFP under recording act
- Transferee takes from BFP
- Transferee is not the original wrongdoer reacquiring title
Estoppel by Deed
A grantor who purports to convey an interest she does not own is estopped from denying the conveyance when she later acquires the interest; title passes automatically to the earlier grantee.
- Grantor conveys interest she does not own
- Grantor later acquires the interest
- Title passes automatically to earlier grantee
Common patterns and traps
The Statute-Classification Trigger
Every recording-act question hinges first on which type of statute the jurisdiction has enacted. The question stem will quote the statute or describe it; you must parse the language to classify it before applying any other rule. Misclassifying the statute makes the rest of your analysis worthless.
A choice that says 'wins because she recorded first' in a pure notice jurisdiction — recording priority is irrelevant under a notice statute, so the choice tests whether you mechanically applied race-notice logic.
The Shelter Rule Bypass
A subsequent grantee with notice can still take protected title if her own grantor was a BFP. Bar examiners love this because it produces a counterintuitive result: a grantee who actually knew of the prior unrecorded interest still wins. Watch for a chain like O→A (unrecorded), O→B (BFP), B→C (with notice).
A choice that says 'C loses because C had actual notice of A's interest' — wrong, because C is sheltered by B's BFP status.
The Wild Deed Trap
A deed recorded outside the grantee's chain of title gives no constructive notice in most jurisdictions. The classic setup: O→A (A doesn't record), A→B (B records the A→B deed but the O→A link is missing), then O→C. C is not on inquiry notice merely because A→B is in the records — searching from O, the recorder index points only to later O→X grants, not to anything under A's name.
A choice that says 'C had constructive notice because A→B was recorded' — wrong; the A→B deed is wild as to C and gives no notice.
The Donee Disqualifier
Recording acts protect only those who give value. Heirs, devisees, and donees never qualify as BFPs, even if they record first and even if they had no notice. Examiners insert a gift, an inheritance, or a 'transfer for love and affection' to see if you catch this disqualifier.
A choice that says 'wins because she recorded first and had no notice' — wrong if the conveyance to her was a gift, because no value was given.
The Inquiry-Notice Possession Pattern
When someone other than the record owner is in visible possession of the property at the time of the subsequent conveyance, the subsequent grantee is on inquiry notice and is charged with what a reasonable inquiry would have revealed. This defeats BFP status even when the records are clean.
A choice that says 'BFP because the records were clear' — wrong if a tenant or prior grantee was openly possessing the land at closing.
How it works
Start every recording-act problem by classifying the statute. Look for the operative trigger words: pure race statutes say only "first recorded" prevails; notice statutes use phrases like "unless recorded" or protect "any subsequent purchaser without notice"; race-notice statutes require the subsequent BFP to record first, typically signaled by "in good faith and for value" plus "first recorded." Imagine Reyes sells Blackacre to Patel on March 1 (Patel does not record), then sells the same parcel to Liu on March 15 for $200,000. In a notice jurisdiction, Liu wins immediately if she had no notice at the March 15 closing — even if she never records. In a race-notice jurisdiction, Liu wins only if she also records before Patel does. In a race jurisdiction, Liu wins if she records first, even if she knew about Patel. The notice analysis is the engine: actual, constructive (anything properly recorded in the chain), and inquiry (possession by another, references in recorded instruments) all defeat BFP status.
Worked examples
As between Patel and Liu, who has superior title to Cedar Tract?
- A Patel, because she was first in time and Liu's recording was procured against the equities of the prior unrecorded deed.
- B Patel, because Liu cannot claim BFP protection without proving she conducted a reasonable title search before April 20.
- C Liu, because she paid value, took without notice, and recorded before Patel. ✓ Correct
- D Liu, because the jurisdiction follows a pure race statute and she was first to record.
Why C is correct: The statute's language — 'subsequent purchaser for value and without notice' combined with 'first duly recorded' — is the textbook race-notice formulation. Liu qualifies because she paid $185,000 (value), had no actual notice and no constructive notice (Patel had not recorded), no inquiry notice (vacant unimproved land showed no possession), and she recorded on April 22, before Patel's April 25 recording.
Why each wrong choice fails:
- A: This applies the common-law first-in-time rule, which the recording act displaces. There is no doctrine that a subsequent BFP's recording is 'against the equities' simply because the prior deed existed. (The Statute-Classification Trigger)
- B: A subsequent purchaser is not required to prove she conducted a title search; she need only show she took without actual, constructive, or inquiry notice. The recording-act burden is about the existence of notice, not about diligent investigation.
- D: The statute is race-notice, not pure race. The phrase 'without notice thereof' is the giveaway — pure race statutes contain no good-faith requirement. Liu wins, but the reason matters because in a true race jurisdiction, knowledge would not defeat her claim. (The Statute-Classification Trigger)
In an action to quiet title, who prevails as between Reyes and Patel?
- A Reyes, because Patel was a donee and donees cannot qualify as bona fide purchasers under any recording act.
- B Reyes, because Patel had actual notice of Reyes's prior interest at the time Chen conveyed to her.
- C Patel, because she is sheltered by Chen's bona fide purchaser status. ✓ Correct
- D Patel, because Reyes received the deed in exchange for forgiveness of a debt, which is not 'value' under a notice statute.
Why C is correct: The Shelter Rule controls. Chen was a BFP — she paid $150,000, took without notice (Reyes had not recorded and there is no indication of inquiry notice), and the jurisdiction is a notice state, so Chen's title became protected the moment she received the deed. Anyone who later takes from Chen, including a donee with actual notice like Patel, is sheltered by Chen's BFP status, except an original wrongdoer reacquiring title.
Why each wrong choice fails:
- A: This states a true rule — donees cannot themselves qualify as BFPs — but ignores the Shelter Rule, which extends BFP protection downstream. Patel does not need to be a BFP in her own right; she takes shelter under Chen's protected title. (The Donee Disqualifier)
- B: Patel's actual notice is irrelevant once the Shelter Rule applies. The whole point of the Shelter Rule is to protect Chen's ability to alienate her now-cleared title to anyone — including grantees who would otherwise lose for having notice. (The Shelter Rule Bypass)
- D: Forgiveness of an antecedent debt is generally treated as valuable consideration sufficient to confer BFP status under recording acts. Even if it were not, the question is whether Patel prevails, not Reyes — and the Shelter Rule resolves that for Patel regardless of whether Reyes paid value.
As between Liu Properties and Chen Holdings, who has superior title?
- A Chen Holdings, because the public records showed clear title in Patel and a clean record search satisfies the no-notice requirement.
- B Chen Holdings, because Liu Properties failed to record and the race-notice statute protects the first to record among purchasers for value.
- C Liu Properties, because Chen Holdings was on inquiry notice from the tenant-farmer's open and visible possession. ✓ Correct
- D Liu Properties, because the common-law rule of first-in-time, first-in-right always defeats a subsequent purchaser who did not personally inspect the land.
Why C is correct: Open, visible possession of land by someone other than the record owner triggers inquiry notice. Chen Holdings was charged with what reasonable inquiry would have revealed — namely, that the tenant-farmer was on Riverbend Farm under Liu Properties' authority. Because Chen Holdings cannot satisfy the 'without notice' element of the race-notice statute, it does not qualify as a BFP, and Liu Properties' prior interest prevails.
Why each wrong choice fails:
- A: A clean record search satisfies the constructive-notice prong but not the inquiry-notice prong. Visible possession by a non-owner imposes a separate, independent duty to investigate; ignoring the land itself defeats BFP status no matter how thorough the records search was. (The Inquiry-Notice Possession Pattern)
- B: This collapses the race-notice analysis to the recording prong alone. Race-notice requires both (1) BFP status without notice AND (2) first-to-record; failing either prong is fatal. Chen Holdings fails the no-notice prong, so the recording-priority prong never gets reached. (The Statute-Classification Trigger)
- D: This invokes the displaced common-law rule and overstates the inspection duty. The recording act, not first-in-time, governs, and the rule is not that every purchaser must personally inspect — it is that visible possession imposes inquiry notice. The right answer reaches Liu Properties' result through the correct doctrinal path.
Memory aid
BFP = 'PVN': Purchaser for Value without Notice. For statute classification, look for the keywords: 'in good faith' = notice or race-notice; 'first recorded' (without notice language) = race; both = race-notice. About half of U.S. jurisdictions are race-notice and just under half are notice — pure race is the rare exception.
Key distinction
The decisive question in every fact pattern is whether the subsequent grantee qualifies as a BFP at the moment of conveyance, and — only in race-notice jurisdictions — whether she also records before the prior grantee. Notice acquired AFTER the conveyance is irrelevant; notice acquired BEFORE or AT closing destroys BFP status.
Summary
Recording acts protect later purchasers for value without notice; classify the statute (race, notice, race-notice), test BFP status at the moment of conveyance, and apply the Shelter Rule when a sheltered transferee is in the chain.
Practice recording acts adaptively
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Start your free 7-day trialFrequently asked questions
What is recording acts on the UBE?
A recording act is a state statute that resolves priority disputes between successive grantees of conflicting interests in the same parcel of land. At common law, first-in-time, first-in-right governs; recording acts displace that rule by protecting a subsequent purchaser who satisfies the statute's requirements. The three types are race (first to record wins), notice (a subsequent BFP wins, regardless of recording), and race-notice (a subsequent BFP who records first wins). Recording acts protect only purchasers (and mortgagees) for value without notice; they do not protect donees, devisees, or heirs.
How do I practice recording acts questions?
The fastest way to improve on recording acts is targeted, adaptive practice — working questions that focus on your specific weak spots within this sub-topic, getting immediate feedback, and revisiting items you missed on a spaced-repetition schedule. Neureto's adaptive engine does this automatically across the UBE; start a free 7-day trial to see your sub-topic mastery climb in real time.
What's the most important distinction to remember for recording acts?
The decisive question in every fact pattern is whether the subsequent grantee qualifies as a BFP at the moment of conveyance, and — only in race-notice jurisdictions — whether she also records before the prior grantee. Notice acquired AFTER the conveyance is irrelevant; notice acquired BEFORE or AT closing destroys BFP status.
Is there a memory aid for recording acts questions?
BFP = 'PVN': Purchaser for Value without Notice. For statute classification, look for the keywords: 'in good faith' = notice or race-notice; 'first recorded' (without notice language) = race; both = race-notice. About half of U.S. jurisdictions are race-notice and just under half are notice — pure race is the rare exception.
What's a common trap on recording acts questions?
Treating donees and devisees as protected purchasers
What's a common trap on recording acts questions?
Failing to check whether a recorded deed is in the chain of title (wild deeds)
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