Wild Deed: 5 Things You Have To Know

A wild deed, also known as a thin air deed, is a recorded deed that isn’t in the chain of title.

Unfortunately, even though you have little control over wild deeds, they can still cause a lot of issues with a property.

For example, when you sell your property or refinance your mortgage are two instances of when you can run into a problem.

The resolution also depends on the state you reside in.

If you want to protect yourself as much as possible from wild deeds — or you just found out that one exists on your property — keep watching.

Here are the top things you need to know!

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Disclaimer: we are not lawyers, accountants, or financial advisors, and the information in this video is for informational purposes only. This video is based on our own research and experience and, while we do our best to keep it accurate and up-to-date, but it may contain errors. Please be sure to consult a legal or financial professional before making any investment or purchasing decisions.
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Video Transcript:
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Hi guys this is Erica from Gokce Capital. Now before I begin, be sure to click subscribe and turn on the notification bell. Imagine this one day a stranger shows up and says.

They own your house. This is exactly what happened to Maria Warren. We'll learn more at the end of this video but first, if you own or are purchasing the property you should understand what a wild deed is, and in today's video we have the top things you should know. Number one, what is a wild deed? A wild deed is a deed that was not recorded.

This means that it is not indexed or connected to a chain of titles. Number two, what happens if you find a wild deed on your property? Well, it depends on the state but under the recording acts of most states, wild deeds offer no notice to subsequent good faith.

Purchasers we'll go over what that means in a second but the good news is that a wild deed will often not impact your ownership. Number three, what are the recording acts. The recording acts are state statutes that establish the keeping of official county land ownership records.

The acts also settle conflicts of ownership in real property by prioritizing ownership documents. In a race state, the document first recorded will win in a notice state. A later buyer who pays fair value for the property and doesn't have noticed that there were any other earlier conflicting interests will win and finally in a race notice state a later buyer who doesn't have notice of any other earlier conflicting interests and records first.

Will win and have priority over later recordings. The point here again is that a wild deed does not serve as a notice so that means in many states a deed recorded after a wild deed will take precedence over that unrecorded deed. Number four, why are wild deeds a problem?

Well, we just covered why they may not be an issue but they do become a problem if you buy a property and don't have your deed recorded. When your deed isn't recorded it can make it difficult for you to later sell your property. Get a mortgage or even assert your ownership of the land or home and number five.

Can a title search find a wild deed? A wild deed isn't in the chain of title. Which means it cannot usually be found by a title search.

It's important to note that this also means title insurance will likely not protect you against wild deeds but now that we've covered the basics of wild deeds let's return to the case of Maria Warren. In 1858, Maria's brother-in-law purchased a property and then invited Maria and her husband to live with him. At some point in the next three years, Maria claimed that her brother-in-law had signed a deed transferring title to her but the deed was never recorded.

As it turns out the brother-in-law was not paying the home's property taxes and so in the third year of Maria's occupancy it was put up for auction at the country tax sale. A woman by the name of Rose Lincoln bought the property and when Rose showed up to claim possession Maria sued her. Claiming that Maria's unrecorded deed took precedence over Rose's sheriff's deed.

[RobVespa]

No. 1: That "wild deed" is a thing. TIL (today I learned). Thanks!

Truth us, you talk about a lot of things I'd not heard of before. It makes me wonder about the credibility of that Georgia Tech masters program. Ha... Just joshing! I think the prospect of wild deeds is somewhat frightening. The thought that the government could auction someone's home without their knowledge may be even more terrifying. Yikes.