Haner v. Bruce

I disagree with the result reached by the majority. A purchaser of real estate for value without actual or constructive notice of any defect in the title will hold the same against a prior grantee or attaching creditor who has failed to have his conveyance recorded, whether through his fault or that of the town clerk. Burchard, Wilson & Co. v. Town of Fair Haven, 48 Vt. 327 (1875). This is so because purchasers have the *266implicit right to rely upon the land records required by law to be kept for that purpose. Id. at 335.

One of the land records required by law to be kept is a general index of…