Deeds May Not Be Recorded Promptly

Land records do not always get recorded promptly and are usually recorded in the record books in the order in which they are brought to the courthouse. Generally most land deeds are recorded relatively promptly. There are always exceptions and the oversight is usually noticed when the property is eventually sold.

As a result a deed from the 1820s could be recorded in the 1850s, perhaps when the purchaser died. Sometimes the buyer forgets to record the deed initially only to find it stuck in a safe place decades later.