Chapter 25 - EXHIBIT 25A • HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE RECORDING ACT

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

EXHIBIT 25A • HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE RECORDING ACT

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE RECORDING ACT

Colorado's first recording act, enacted in 1861, provided:

No conveyance of real estate, or of any interest therein, shall be valid against a subsequent purchaser for a valuable consideration, and without notice of its existence, nor against a subsequent encumbrancer by mortgage or judgment, until it shall be recorded in the office of the recorder of the county in which the premises conveyed are located.¹

The following version of the recording act appeared in the 1868 Revised Statutes:

All deeds, conveyances, agreements in writing of, or affecting title to real estate or any interest therein, and powers of attorney for the conveyance of any real estate or any interest therein, may be recorded in the office of the recorder of the county wherein such real estate is situated, and from and after the filing thereof for record in such office and not before, such deeds, bonds and agreements in writing shall take effect as to subsequent bona fide purchasers and encumbrancers by mortgage, judgment or otherwise not having notice thereof.²

An identical provision appeared in the 1877 General Laws³ and the 1883 General Statutes.⁴ A substantially identical provision appeared in the 1908 Revised Statutes.⁵

In 1919, the recording act was amended to provide for the recording of certified copies of judgments and orders of court and other instruments in writing affecting title to real estate.⁶ As so codified in the 1921 Compiled Laws, the recording act read:

All deeds, conveyances, agreements, in writing of, or affecting title to real estate or any interest therein, powers of attorney for the conveyance of any real estate or any interest therein, certified copies of judgments and orders of courts of record, and all other instruments in writing affecting the title to real estate or any interest therein may be recorded in the office of the recorder of the county wherein such real estate is situated and from and after the filing thereof for record in such office, and not before, such deeds, bonds, contracts, judgments and instruments in writing shall take effect as to subsequent bona fide purchasers and encumbrancers by mortgage, judgment or otherwise not having notice thereof.⁷

Effective March 28, 1927, the recording act was rewritten. The reference to "subsequent bona fide purchasers and encumbrancers" was deleted and the phrase "any class of persons with any kind of rights" was substituted.⁸ (The significance of the change was noted in Eastwood v. Shedd.⁹ ) As so changed and codified in the 1935 Statutes Annotated, the recording act read:

All deeds, powers of attorney, agreements or other instruments in writing, conveying, encumbering or affecting the title to real property, certificates and certified copies of orders, judgments and decrees of Courts of Record may be recorded in the office of the recorder of the county where such real property is situated and no such instrument or document shall be valid as against any class of persons with any kind of rights, except between the parties thereto and such as have notice thereof, until the same shall be deposited with such recorder. In all cases where by law an instrument may be filed, the filing thereof with such recorder shall be equivalent to the recording thereof.¹⁰

Effective April 22, 1980, the provision that recording is equivalent to filing was amended to provide an exception for statements filed under the Uniform Commercial Code.¹¹ As so amended, the recording act read:

All deeds, powers of attorney, agreements, or other instruments in

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