Race-Notice States

Race statute

Also known as the "Race to the courthouse." The rule that the document recorded first wins and will have priority over any later recordings. States that follow the Race statute: Delaware, Louisiana, and North Carolina.

Notice statute

A later buyer who pays fair value for the property and does not have notice that there were any other earlier conflicting interests, wins and will have priority over any later recordings.

States that follow the Notice statute: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and West Virginia.

Race-Notice statute

A later buyer who pays fair value, does not have notice of any other earlier conflicting interests, and records first, wins and will have priority over any later recordings.

States that follow the Race-Notice statute: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio (regarding mortgages, OH follows the Race statute), Oregon, Pennsylvania (regarding mortgages, PN follows Race), South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Source: [legalmatch.com http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/recording-acts.html]