Why recording exists
A deed is valid between grantor and grantee the moment it is delivered, yet nobody else can see it. Recording publishes the conveyance so the rest of the world is charged with knowing it. That published record is constructive notice, and constructive notice is what decides contests between two buyers of the same land.
Where and how to record
Every deed conveying land must be recorded in the office of the clerk of the superior court of the county where the land lies. Land records follow the land, not the grantor's residence. The Georgia Real Estate Commission is the licensing agency and keeps no land records, and the Department of Revenue receives the PT-61 transfer tax declaration that accompanies the deed but is not the recording office.
To be admitted to record, an instrument must be an original, attested or acknowledged as provided by law, and must show on the first page the name and mailing address of the natural person to whom it is to be returned.
- No title insurance commitment is required to record.
- The grantee does not sign, and no signing before a judge is required.
- There is no 30-day cutoff after which a deed cannot be recorded; that number belongs to the intangible tax filing, and it is not a bar to recording.
The race-notice result
A prior unrecorded deed loses its priority over a subsequent recorded deed from the same vendor when the later purchaser takes without notice. So if Buyer A takes delivery Monday and does not record, and Buyer B buys from the same seller, pays value, has no notice and records at once, Buyer B wins.
First in time does not control; the recording act overrides that common-law idea. Buyer A cannot claim constructive notice against Buyer B either, because constructive notice comes from the record and Buyer A never recorded. The deeds do not cancel each other, and title does not revert to the grantor.
Gift deeds get no special treatment
Every unrecorded voluntary or gift deed is void as against a subsequent bona fide purchaser for value without notice. The gift is perfectly good between the parties; that is a separate question from its effect on third parties. Recording later cannot defeat a purchaser who already took without notice.