PROPERTY CODE

TITLE 3. PUBLIC RECORDS

CHAPTER 13. EFFECTS OF RECORDING

Sec. 13.001.  VALIDITY OF UNRECORDED INSTRUMENT.  (a)  A conveyance of real property or an interest in real property or a mortgage or deed of trust is void as to a creditor or to a subsequent purchaser for a valuable consideration without notice unless the instrument has been acknowledged, sworn to, or proved and filed for record as required by law.
(b)  The unrecorded instrument is binding on a party to the instrument, on the party's heirs, and on a subsequent purchaser who does not pay a valuable consideration or who has notice of the instrument.
(c)  This section does not apply to a financing statement, a security agreement filed as a financing statement, or a continuation statement filed for record under the Business & Commerce Code.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3495, ch. 576, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.  Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 162, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 13.002.  EFFECT OF RECORDED INSTRUMENT.  An instrument that is properly recorded in the proper county is:
(1)  notice to all persons of the existence of the instrument;  and
(2)  subject to inspection by the public.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3495, ch. 576, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.  Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 715, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 960, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Sec. 13.003.  INSTRUMENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED IN OTHER COUNTIES.  The original or a certified copy of a conveyance, covenant, agreement, deed of trust, or mortgage, relating to land, that has been recorded in a county of this state other than the county where the land to which the instrument relates is located, is valid as to a creditor or a subsequent purchaser who has paid a valuable consideration and who does not have notice of the instrument only after it is recorded in the county in which the land is located.  Recording a previously recorded instrument in the proper county does not validate an invalid instrument.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3496, ch. 576, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.

Sec. 13.004.  EFFECT OF RECORDING LIS PENDENS.  (a)  A recorded lis pendens is notice to the world of its contents.  The notice is effective from the time it is filed for record and indexed as provided by Section 12.007(c), regardless of whether service has been made on the parties to the proceeding.
(b)  A transfer or encumbrance of real property involved in a proceeding by a party to the proceeding to a third party who has paid a valuable consideration and who does not have actual or constructive notice of the proceeding is effective, even though the judgment is against the party transferring or encumbering the property, unless a notice of the pendency of the proceeding has been recorded and indexed under that party's name as provided by Section 12.007(c) in each county in which the property is located.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3496, ch. 576, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
Amended by: 
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 437 (S.B. 1187), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2011.

Sec. 13.005.  EFFECT OF RECORDING JUDGMENT OF JUSTICE COURT.  A certified transcript of a justice court judgment recorded under Section 12.015 of this code has the same effect as a recorded deed.  A court shall admit as evidence the transcript or a copy of the transcript, if the copy is certified with the signature and seal of the clerk of the county in which the transcript is recorded, in the same manner and with the same effect as the original judgment and execution.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3496, ch. 576, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.

Sec. 13.006.  EFFECT OF RECORDING QUITCLAIM DEED.  After the fourth anniversary of the date a quitclaim deed for real property is recorded in the deed records of the county in which the real property is located, the quitclaim deed:
(1)  does not affect the question of the good faith of a subsequent purchaser or creditor; and
(2)  is not notice to a subsequent purchaser or creditor of any unrecorded conveyance of, transfer of, or encumbrance on the real property.
Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 94 (S.B. 885), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2021.