Georgia § 44-2-2 - Duty of clerk to record certain transaction affecting real estate and personal property; priority of recorded instruments; effect of recording on rights between parties to instruments.

§ 44-2-2. Duty of clerk to record certain transaction affecting real estate and personal property; priority of recorded instruments; effect of recording on rights between parties to instruments.

The clerk of the superior court shall file, index on a computer program designed for such purpose, and permanently record, in the manner provided constructively in Code Sections 15-6-61 and 15-6-66, the following instruments conveying, transferring, encumbering, or affecting real estate and personal property: Deeds; Mortgages; Liens as provided for by law; and Maps or plats relating to real estate in the county; and State tax executions and state tax execution renewals as provided for in Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 48. As used in this subsection, the term "liens" shall have the same meaning as provided in Code Sections 15-19-14, 44-14-320, and 44-14-602 and shall include all liens provided by state or federal statute. When indexing liens, the clerk shall index the names of parties in the manner provided by such rules and regulations adopted by the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 15-6-61 as authorized by Code Section 15-6-97. When indexing maps or plats relating to real estate in the county, the clerk of superior court shall index the names or titles provided in the caption of the plat. Deeds, mortgages, and liens of all kinds which are required by law to be recorded in the office of the clerk of superior court and which are against the interests of third parties who have acquired a transfer or lien binding the same property and who are acting in good faith and without notice shall take effect only from the time they are filed for record in the clerk's office. Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to affect the validity or force of any deed, mortgage, judgment, or lien of any kind between the parties thereto. (Ga. L. 1889, p. 106, §§ 1, 4; Civil Code 1895, §§ 2778, 2781; Civil Code 1910, §§ 3320, 3323; Code 1933, §§ 67-2501, 67-2503; Code 1981 § 44-2-2 ; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 44; Ga. L. 2002, p. 799, § 5; Ga. L. 2006, p. 334, § 1/SB 306; Ga. L. 2016, p. 193, § 3/HB 1004; Ga. L. 2017, p. 723, § 13/HB 337; Ga. L. 2017, p. 774, § 44/HB 323; Ga. L. 2018, p. 1, § 7/HB 661.) The 2016 amendment, effective January 1, 2017, deleted ", as required by paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of Code Section 15-6-67, as both the grantor and grantee" following "caption of the plat" at the end of paragraph (a)(4). The 2017 amendments. The first 2017 amendment, effective January 1, 2018, substituted "as provided for by law" for "of all kinds" in subparagraph (a)(1)(C); substituted "; and" for a period at the end of subparagraph (a)(1)(D); added subparagraph (a)(1)(E); in paragraph (a)(2), substituted "As used in" for "For the purpose of" at the beginning, inserted "the term" near the middle, and substituted "have the same meaning" for "be defined" in the middle; added the second and third sentences in paragraph (a)(3); added subparagraphs (a)(3)(A) through (a)(3)(D); and deleted "the" preceding "superior court" near the middle of subsection (b). The second 2017 amendment, effective May 9, 2017, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "As used in this subsection, the term 'liens' shall have the same meaning" for "For the purpose of this subsection, 'liens' shall be defined" at the beginning of paragraph (a)(2). The 2018 amendment, effective February 20, 2018, rewrote paragraph (a)(3). Cross references. - Duty of clerk to obtain names and addresses of grantors and grantees prior to recording title transfer, § 15-6-63 . Duty of clerk of superior court to maintain grantor-grantee index, § 15-6-66 . Editor's notes. - Ga. L. 2016, p. 193, § 3/HB 1004, which amended this Code section, purported to amend paragraph (b)(4) but actually amended paragraph (a)(4). Ga. L. 2017, p. 723, § 1/HB 337, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'State Tax Execution Modernization Act.'" Law reviews. - For note, "The Effect of Failure to Record Conditional Sale Contracts in Georgia," see 11 Mercer L. Rev. 358 (1960). For comment on Manchester Motors, Inc. v. Farmers & Merchants Bank, 91 Ga. App. 811 , 87 S.E.2d 342 (1955), see 18 Ga. B.J. 82 (1955).