Maryland § 3-302

§ 3-302.

    (a)    (1)    The clerk of the circuit court of each county shall make and maintain a full and complete general alphabetical index of every deed, and other instrument.

        (2)    The index shall:

            (i)    Be both in the name of each grantor, donor, mortgagor, and assignor, and each grantee, donee, mortgagee, or assignee; and

            (ii)    Include the book and page of the recordation of every instrument designating these names.

        (3)    The clerk shall index every deed or other instrument retaining a vendor’s lien both as a deed and as a vendor’s lien, in the same manner as mortgages are indexed.

    (b)    The clerk shall index every assignment of a mortgage, deed of trust, and release or partial release of a mortgage or deed of trust, whether in long or short form.

    (c)    (1)    If a court decrees a payment of cost or makes some other decree for payment of money by a plaintiff, the clerk immediately shall index the plaintiff’s name.

        (2)    Until the plaintiff’s name is indexed, no lien under the decree arises against the property of the plaintiff and no right of execution accrues on the decree.

    (d)    (1)    The clerk shall include in the index each property identifier provided on an intake sheet under § 3–104(g) of this title or, if the space available in the index will not accommodate all of the identifiers, then as many as the space allows, giving priority to identifiers in the order in which they are listed in § 3–104(g)(3)(i) of this title.

        (2)    The clerk shall rely on the instrument that is accompanied by the intake sheet for indexing of grantor’s and grantee’s names.