A buyer purchases a Camden County property and records her deed. She later learns that her seller had actual knowledge of a prior unrecorded deed conveying the same property to a different buyer, and that her seller deliberately concealed this fact from her. The prior buyer now asserts a claim to the property. Under New Jersey recording law, which principle is most critical in determining whether the buyer who recorded is protected?
Correct Answer
D) The buyer who recorded is protected only if she herself took without actual or constructive notice of the prior unrecorded deed at the time of her purchase
Under New Jersey's race-notice recording statute, the protection afforded to a subsequent purchaser who records depends on the subsequent purchaser's own notice status — not the seller's. The critical question is whether the buyer who recorded had actual or constructive notice of the prior unrecorded deed at the time she purchased. If she personally had no notice of the prior deed and recorded first, she is protected as a bona fide purchaser. The seller's knowledge or fraud is relevant to other legal claims (e.g., fraud, breach of contract) but does not automatically impute notice to the buyer for purposes of the recording act.
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Related Topics & Key Terms
Key Terms:
Related Concepts
A life estate is a freehold estate that grants ownership rights for the duration of someone's life.
Real property is immovable land and anything permanently attached to it, while personal property (also called chattels) is movable.
Tenancy by the entirety is a form of co-ownership available only to married couples that includes the right of survivorship and protection from individual creditors. Neither spouse can unilaterally sell or encumber the property.
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