A recording act is a statute that establishes the procedures for the filing, recording, and inspection of real property documents such as deeds and mortgages in the counties in which the property is located.
In Romero v. Sanchez, the Supreme Court of New Mexico noted that the recording acts in most jurisdictions have the purpose of protecting those who subsequently deal with the property. Recording acts provide a place and method for potential buyers to determine the kind of title they would obtain. Further, in TexasFile LLC v. Board of County Commissioners, the Court of Appeals of New Mexico observed that recording acts task county clerks with making real property records available and searchable for the public. The facts in this case show that recording acts could also provide protection to personal identifier information by requiring its redaction before the records could be inspected or copied, and that injured parties could hold county clerks to damages for failure to comply with the requirements of the recording act.
See also: Race statute, Notice statute, and Race-notice statute (three major types of recording acts).
[Last updated in April of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]