Recording

Recording is the act that makes a property instrument public: deeds, mortgages, satisfactions, declarations, and liens are submitted to the recording office, indexed against the property, and take their place in the chain of title. Its legal force is priority and notice — recorded interests generally prevail over later unrecorded ones, and the world is charged with knowledge of what the record contains.

Recording adjudicates nothing: the office indexes what it receives, without certifying validity, authority, or authenticity — the gap deed fraud exploits and title practice exists to manage. And publication takes time: instruments surface weeks after execution, so the record is always a slightly delayed mirror of the closing tables it reflects.