Registry and Recordation – The public records doctrine

Registry and Recordation – The public records doctrine

C.C. art. 1839. Transfer of immovable property. A transfer of immovable property must be made by authentic act or by act under private signature. Nevertheless, an oral transfer is valid between the parties when the property has been actually delivered and the transferor recognizes the transfer when interrogated on oath. An instrument involving immovable property shall have effect against third per­sons only from the time it is filed for registry in the parish where the property is located.

RS. 9:2721. Filing in office of parish recorder. A. An act of conveyance of immovable property or attachment thereto filed for registry in the office of the parish recorder shall designate the name of the person responsible for all property taxes and assessments and include the address where property tax and assessment notices are to be mailed. The person responsible for the taxes and assessments of the immovable being transferred shall provide the above information to the tax assessor for the parish in which the immovable property is located for the purpose of issuing tax and assessment notices.

B. Anyone who acquires immovable property in this state, whether by sale, sheriff’s sale, giving in payment, or in any other manner, which property is subject to a recorded lease agreement that is not divested by the acquisition, shall take the property subject to all of the provisions of the lease, including any provision for the payment of a commission to a leasing agent or other third party; provided that the lease was recorded prior to the recordation of the document which establishes the rights of the person who acquires the property. Such document shall include but is not limited to a mortgage, option to purchase, or other writing.

Art. 3338. Instruments creating real rights in immovables; recordation required to affect third persons. The rights and obligations established or created by the following written instruments are without effect as to a third person unless the instrument is registered by recording it in the appropriate mortgage or conveyance records pursuant to the provisions of this Title:

(1) An instrument that transfers an immovable or establishes a real right in or over an immovable.

(2) The lease of an immovable.

3) An option or right of first refusal, or a contract to buy, sell, or lease an immovable or to establish a real right in or over an immovable.

(4) An instrument that modifies, terminates, or transfers the rights created or evidenced by the instruments described in Subparagraphs (1) through (3) of this Article.

Art. 3339. Matters not of record. A matter of capacity or authority; the occurrence of a suspensive or a resolutory condition, the exercise of an option or right of first refusal, a tacit acceptance, a termination of rights that depends upon the occurrence of a condition, and a similar matter pertaining to rights and obligations evidenced by a recorded instru­ment are effective as to a third person although not evidenced of record.

Art. 3340. Effect of recording other documents. If the law or a recorded instrument expressly makes the recordation of an act or instrument a condition to the creation, extinction, or modification of rights or obligations, such act or instrument is not effective as to a third person until it is recorded. The recordation of a document, other than an instrument described in Article 3338, that is required by law to be registered, filed, or otherwise recorded with the clerk of court or recorder of conveyances or of mortgages or in the conveyance or mortgage records shall have only the effect provided for by such law.

Art. 3341. Limits on the effect of recordation. The recordation of an instrument:

(1) Does not create a presumption that the instrument is valid or genuine.

(2) Does not create a presumption as to the capacity or status of the parties.

(3) Has no effect unless the law expressly provides for its recordation.

(4) Is effective only with respect to immovables located in the parish where the instrument is recorded.

Art. 3343. Third person defined. A third person is a person who is not a party to or personally bound by an instrument. A witness to an act is a third person with respect to it. A person who by contract assumes an obligation or is bound by contract to recog­nize a right is not a third person with respect to the obligation or right or to the instrument creating or establishing it.

Art. 3351. Ancient documents; presumptions. An instrument that has been recorded for at least ten years is presumed to have been signed by all persons whose purported signatures are affixed thereto, and, if a judgment, that it was rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction. The recording shall have effect from the time when the act is deposited in the proper office, and indorsed by the proper officer.