Louisiana Civil Code

Table of Contents (Download PDF)

TITLE XXII-A - OF REGISTRY

 

CHAPTER 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS

Art. 3338. The rights and obligations established or created by the following written instruments are without effect as to a third person unless the instrument is registered by recording it in the appropriate mortgage or conveyance records pursuant to the provisions of this Title:

(1) An instrument that transfers an immovable or establishes a real right in or over an immovable.

(2) The lease of an immovable.

(3) An option or right of first refusal, or a contract to buy, sell, or lease an immovable or to establish a real right in or over an immovable.

(4) An instrument that modifies, terminates, or transfers the rights created or evidenced by the instruments described in Subparagraphs (1) through (3) of this Article. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. July 1, 2006]

Art. 3339. A matter of capacity or authority, the occurrence of a suspensive or a resolutory condition, the exercise of an option or right of first refusal, a tacit acceptance, a termination of rights that depends upon the occurrence of a condition, and a similar matter pertaining to rights and obligations evidenced by a recorded instrument are effective as to a third person although not evidenced of record. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006]

Art. 3340. If the law or a recorded instrument expressly makes the recordation of an act or instrument a condition to the creation, extinction, or modification of rights or obligations, such act or instrument is not effective as to a third person until it is recorded.

The recordation of a document, other than an instrument described in Article 3338, that is required by law to be registered, filed, or otherwise recorded with the clerk of court or recorder of conveyances or of mortgages or in the conveyance or mortgage records shall have only the effect provided for by such law. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006]

Art. 3341. The recordation of an instrument:

(1) Does not create a presumption that the instrument is valid or genuine.

(2) Does not create a presumption as to the capacity or status of the parties.

(3) Has no effect unless the law expressly provides for its recordation.

(4) Is effective only with respect to immovables located in the parish where the instrument is recorded. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006]

Art. 3342. A party to a recorded instrument may not contradict the terms of the instrument or statements of fact it contains to the prejudice of a third person who after its recordation acquires an interest in or over the immovable to which the instrument relates. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006]

Art. 3343. A third person is a person who is not a party to or personally bound by an instrument.

A witness to an act is a third person with respect to it.

A person who by contract assumes an obligation or is bound by contract to recognize a right is not a third person with respect to the obligation or right or to the instrument creating or establishing it. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006]

Art. 3344. A. Except as otherwise provided by law, the recorder shall refuse to record:

(1) An instrument that does not bear the original signature of a party.

(2) A judgment, administrative decree, or other act of a governmental agency that is not properly certified in a manner provided by law.

B. Recordation does not dispense with the necessity of proving that the signatures are genuine unless they are authenticated in the manner provided by law. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006; Acts 2020, No. 254, §1]

Art. 3345. The recordation of a duplicate of an instrument, as defined in Code of Evidence Article 1001(5), that does not bear the original signature of a party, shall nonetheless have the same effect as recordation of the original instrument. Recordation does not dispense with proving that the recorded instrument is a duplicate. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006]

Art. 3346. A. An instrument creating, establishing, or relating to a mortgage or privilege over an immovable, or the pledge of the lessor’s rights in the lease of an immovable and its rents, is recorded in the mortgage records of the parish in which the immovable is located. All other instruments are recorded in the conveyance records of that parish.

B. The recorder shall maintain in the manner prescribed by law all instruments that are recorded with him. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006; Amended by Acts 2014, No. 281, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2015]

Art. 3347. The effect of recordation arises when an instrument is filed with the recorder and is unaffected by subsequent errors or omissions of the recorder. An instrument is filed with a recorder when he accepts it for recordation in his office. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006]

Art. 3348. Upon acceptance of an instrument the recorder shall immediately write upon or stamp it with the date and time it is filed and the registry number assigned to it. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006]

Art. 3349. If the recorder upon acceptance of an instrument fails to endorse an instrument with the date and time of filing or if it bears the same date and time of filing as another instrument, it is presumed that the instrument was filed with respect to other instruments in the order indicated by their registry numbers and that the filing of the instrument occurred immediately before an instrument bearing the next consecutive registry number. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006]

Art. 3350. When the date and time of filing cannot be determined under Articles 3348 and 3349, it is presumed that the instrument was filed at the first determinable date and time that it appears in the records of the recorder. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006]

Art. 3351. An instrument that has been recorded for at least ten years is presumed to have been signed by all persons whose purported signatures are affixed thereto, and, if a judgment, that it was rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006]

Art. 3352. A. An instrument shall contain the following information when appropriate for its type and nature:

(1) The full name, domicile, and permanent mailing address of the parties.

(2) The marital status of all of the parties who are individuals, including the full name of the present spouse or a declaration that the party is unmarried.

(3) A declaration as to whether there has been a change in the marital status of any party who is a transferor of the immovable or interest or right since he acquired it, and if so, when and in what manner the change occurred.

(4) The municipal number or postal address of the property, if it has one.

(5) The last four digits of the social security number or the taxpayer identification number of the mortgagor, whichever is applicable.

(6) The notary's identification number or the attorney's bar roll number and the typed, printed, or stamped name of the notary and witnesses if the instrument is an authentic act of, or an authenticated act by, a notary.

B. The recorder shall not refuse to record an instrument because it does not contain the information required by this Article. The omission of that information does not impair the validity of an instrument or the effect given to its recordation.

C. The recorder shall only display the last four digits of the social security numbers or taxpayer identification numbers listed on instruments that his office makes available for viewing on the Internet. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006; Acts 2017, No. 173, §4]

Art. 3353. A recorded instrument is effective with respect to a third person if the name of a party is not so indefinite, incomplete, or erroneous as to be misleading and the instrument as a whole reasonably alerts a person examining the records that the instrument may be that of the party. [Acts 2005, No. 169, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 13, §1, eff. eff. July 1, 2006]




Provide Website Feedback / Accessibility Statement / Accessibility Assistance / Privacy Statement