Recording Deeds

Training for: Legal Notes

Question: Must a deed be recorded in the county registry of deeds in order to be legally effective?

Answer: No, a deed is legally effective to convey the property described in it provided the deed has been given or delivered to the grantee. Recording the deed in the registry is not required for the deed to be operative; the deed merely needs to be delivered to and accepted by the grantee, either physically or constructively (for example, through an escrow agent).

Whether a deed is recorded is generally the responsibility (and the choice) of the grantee. But Maine is a “race-notice” state, meaning that if property is deeded to two different grantees, the first one to record the deed will generally be considered the true owner absent fraud or notice of a prior conveyance.

For municipal tax assessment purposes, a copy of a deed, whether recorded or not, should be sufficient notice of a property transfer to update assessment records (see 36 M.R.S. § 557).

For other municipal purposes, however, where the “record owner” is what counts (for example, for tax lien notice purposes), only a recorded deed will suffice.

We should note that while deeds need not be recorded in order to be effective, zoning variance certificates and approved subdivision plans must both be recorded in order to be valid (see 30-A M.R.S. §§ 4353(5) and 4406(1), respectively).

We also note that before a deed can be recorded, a real estate transfer tax must generally be paid. Deeds to or from municipalities are exempt from this tax but only for the municipality’s half. The other party is still generally liable for its half of the tax. This applies to, among other things, municipal deeds conveying tax-acquired property to purchasers, whether former owners or other persons. For more on the transfer tax, see “Municipalities & the Transfer Tax,” Maine Townsman, Legal Notes, November 2013. (By R.P.F.)