Morse v. Curtis - 140 Mass. 112, 2 N.E. 929 (1885)

Rule:

If a purchaser, upon examining the registry, find a conveyance from the owner of the land to his grantor, which gives him a perfect record title completed by what the law, at the time it is recorded, regards as equivalent to a livery of seisin, he is entitled to rely upon such record title, and is not obliged to search the records afterwards, in order to see if there has been any prior unrecorded deed of the original owner.

Facts:

The owner of the land mortgaged it to two people: the demandant, and to another who had notice of the earlier mortgage in favor of the demandant. The second grantee recorded the mortgage months before the demandant. After the demandant recorded his mortgage, the second grantee assigned his mortgage to the tenant, who had no actual knowledge of the mortgage to the demandant. An action was instituted between the demandant and the tenant to whom a mortgage of the land was subsequently assigned by the holder of the recorded mortgage. The lower court of Massachusetts ordered a verdict for the demandant. 

Issue:

Did the demandant have better title over the land? 

Answer:

No.

Conclusion:

The court held that a purchaser was entitled to rely upon the record title and was not obligated to search the records afterwards, in order to see if there has been any prior unrecorded deed of the original owner, if upon examining the registry, he found a conveyance from the owner of the land to his grantor which gave him a perfect record title completed by what the law, at the time it was recorded, regarded as equivalent to a livery of seisin. Thus, under the circumstances, the tenant had the better title and set aside the lower court's verdict in favor of the demandant.