Legal Definitions - Race statute

Definition: A type of recording act that gives priority of ownership to the party who records their claim first, even if they were aware of an earlier unrecorded claim on the same property. This means that the first person to record their claim will have legal ownership of the property, regardless of any prior claims.

Example: Let's say that John and Jane both claim ownership of a piece of land. John knew that Jane had previously claimed the land, but he quickly recorded his claim with the county recorder's office before Jane had a chance to do so. Under a race statute, John would be considered the legal owner of the land, even though he was aware of Jane's prior claim.

Explanation: This example illustrates how a race statute works in practice. Even though John knew about Jane's prior claim, he was able to gain legal ownership of the land simply by recording his claim first. This is because a race statute prioritizes the first recorded claim over any prior claims, regardless of whether the party was aware of them or not.