Octave purchases a home in Baton Rouge and immediately records his act of sale in the parish conveyance records. Three months later, he discovers that the seller had previously granted a non-apparent, discontinuous predial servitude over the property to an adjacent landowner, but this servitude was never recorded. Under Louisiana law, what is the most likely outcome regarding the servitude?
Correct Answer
A) The servitude is unenforceable against Octave because he is a third-party purchaser who recorded first and had no notice of the unrecorded servitude
Under Louisiana Civil Code Art. 708 and the Louisiana Public Records Doctrine (La. R.S. 9:2721 et seq.), an unrecorded predial servitude is unenforceable against a third-party purchaser for value who records his title without actual notice of the servitude. Octave, as a good-faith purchaser who recorded his act of sale, takes the property free of the unrecorded servitude. The Public Records Doctrine is a cornerstone of Louisiana property law and protects recorded title holders from unrecorded encumbrances.
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