Must a quit claim be recorded to be valid in Calif??
I have had several responses to this quesion, that I posed earlier. I thank all of you for answering so quickly - still confusion. Some of you had advised that it MUST be recorded and ohers have indicated hat it only be notorized, which it is. Thank you
Answers:
The deed has to be notarized, but a deed is effective upon delivery to the grantee (the person receiving the property). It does not have to be recorded to be valid. Recording is notice to the "world" of a property transfer. QC deeds are an effective means of estate planning in many instances. My wife and I have QC deeds to each other signed and in our files at home. However, we will not record these deeds until one of us dies. Recording is not mandatory. The reason I disagree with other other answerers is that I don't think they are answering the question you asked. The "chain of title" information is correct if you are doing a title search, but you are asking about the validity of the deed itself. That's a wholly different question. Many deeds are not recorded until years after they are written. If you looked today they would not show up on the land title records, but that's not your question. Non-recording does not effect validity of the document itself.
For ANY deed to be valid anywhere in the US, it MUST be recorded.
American land title law says first to the courthouse, first of record. You may have a valid deed notarized and ready for recording and it will be perfectly valid; but until it is put to record, there is no constructive notice of it's intent, and it's value is nil; and documents may be recorded in advance of it that can make it invalid.
It has to be BOTH notarized and recorded with the county clerk.
i used to do title research for proof of validity of ownership on properties my company wanted to purchase.
you must record ANY deed and become public record before you can prove valid ownership.
it is called 'chain of title'
Has to be recorded at the courthouse.
David M is right. The deed is valid, the recording doesn't effect the validity of the deed, it becomes relevant once a challenge to ownership is brought. However, transfer of the quitclaim deed is all that is needed to transfer the rights the prior owner had. Since it's a quitclaim deed, the person is only giving the claim they have to the property and not providing any warranties about any problems with their ownership. Good luck. Always best to record as soon as possible regardless.
There is a lot of wrong information here. The previous poster is correct. A deed does not have to be recorded to be valid against the seller. It does have to be recorded to be recorded to prevent challenges from other possible buyers. An unrecorded quitclaim deed is nearly useless.
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