6.3 Recording Requirements and Duties

The Statutory Duty to Record (R.S. 35:199)

Unlike most states where recording is the client's responsibility, Louisiana places an affirmative duty on the notary to record acts affecting immovable property. R.S. 35:199 ("Duty to file, register, or record notarial instruments") directs the notary to cause acts of sale, exchange, donation, and mortgage of immovable property passed before the notary to be recorded with the appropriate recorder. Failure exposes the notary to liability if a party is harmed.

What Must Be Recorded

Recording Deadlines

The deadline depends on where the property sits, not where the notary is commissioned. Memorize both numbers.

Property outside Orleans Parish

• Deadline: within 15 days after the act is passed.
• File with the recorder of the parish (or each parish) where the immovable is located.
• If the property spans multiple parishes, record in every parish where it is situated.

Property in Orleans Parish

• File the instrument with the custodian of notarial records for Orleans Parish.
• Record with the register of conveyances and/or recorder of mortgages as appropriate.
• For an act of sale or other transfer, register with the recorder's office within 48 hours after passage of the act.

Conveyance vs. Mortgage Records

Louisiana parishes maintain separate registries. A sale or transfer goes into the conveyance records; a mortgage goes into the mortgage records. An act of sale with assumption of, or grant of, a mortgage may require entries in both.

The Public-Records (Race) Doctrine

Louisiana follows a strict public-records doctrine. An instrument affecting immovable property has effect against third persons only from the time it is filed for registry in the parish where the property is located. Two consequences the exam loves:

• First to record wins. A buyer who records second can lose priority to a later-but-first-recorded competing act, even if the second buyer's purchase was earlier in time.
• Unrecorded equals invisible. As to third parties, an unrecorded sale or mortgage is treated as though it does not exist. This is why the 15-day and 48-hour duties matter, and why prompt recording protects the client and the notary alike.

Relief From the Recording Duty

The notary is relieved of the R.S. 35:199 obligation only when expressly directed in writing by all parties to the instrument to defer or refrain from recordation, or to deliver the instruments to a party or another person. The direction must be:

• Express (not implied from silence or convenience),
• In writing, and
• From all parties to the act.

Wrong answers include the notary being "too busy," the parties paying an extra fee, or a property-value threshold. None of those discharges the duty.

Mortgage Note Paraph

When a mortgage secures a promissory note, the notary may paraph the note, an endorsement identifying the note with the mortgage. The paraph is not required for the mortgage to be valid, but the notary shall paraph the note when it is presented for that purpose, creating a clear evidentiary link between the obligation and its security.

Why the Two Deadlines Differ

The 15-day rule and the 48-hour rule reflect Louisiana's split system. Most parishes use a single elected clerk of court as recorder. Orleans Parish historically kept its conveyance and mortgage functions in separate offices and a custodian of notarial records, a structure inherited from the city's distinct legal history. Because Orleans transactions move through that custodian-plus-recorder pipeline, the legislature imposed the tighter 48-hour transfer deadline to keep the records current, while the rest of the state operates under the 15-day window.

On the exam, anchor the number to the property's parish: Orleans transfer equals 48 hours; everywhere else equals 15 days.

Worked Priority Scenario

Suppose Seller signs an act of sale to Buyer A on Monday but neither records it. On Wednesday the same Seller fraudulently signs a competing act of sale to Buyer B, who records that afternoon. Under the public-records doctrine, Buyer B's recorded act prevails against Buyer A as to the world, even though Buyer A's purchase came first, because Buyer A's unrecorded act had no effect against third parties. Buyer A's remedy is against the Seller, not the property. This is the single most tested consequence of the race system and the reason the notary's prompt-recording duty protects the client.

Multiple Parishes and Split Records

When a tract straddles two parishes, the notary records in each parish where any portion lies; recording in only one leaves the other portion unprotected against third parties. Likewise, a single act that both transfers title and grants or assumes a mortgage requires entries in both the conveyance and mortgage registries. Missing one registry can leave a lien unperfected or a transfer unindexed, exposing the notary to a malpractice claim if a party is harmed by the gap.

Recordkeeping and Notary Liability

Beyond R.S. 35:199, the notary should retain proof of recording (the recorder's stamped return or registry numbers) in the file. If the notary fails to record within the statutory period and a third party gains priority, the notary can face civil liability for the resulting loss. The written-direction exception is the only safe harbor, and it must come from all parties, in writing, before the deadline passes.