Real Estate Deeds of Title

After entering the necessary information in the notebook and on the original, the register photocopies or otherwise images the document if the document is to be recorded as opposed to merely being filed.  After imaging the document, the register must determine the proper book or record series in which to place the document.  If the document deals with equitable title to real estate, such as a standard warranty deed (which also conveys legal title), then the register places the photocopy in the deed book, also called warranty deed book in many counties.  The deed books should contain all documents which relate to equitable interest in land, such as court decrees and quitclaim deeds, and not just warranty deeds.

After determining the proper book in which to place the document, the register adds the book and page number and places the document in the book.  This book and page number may be added to the notebook although this is not a legal requirement.

The register is required to index the deed or other instrument immediately upon recording it.  T.C.A. § 10-7-205.  Deeds and related instruments conveying full title or affecting equitable interests in real property are indexed in a direct or grantor index and in a reverse or grantee index.

In the direct index, the register enters first the name(s) of the grantors and then the names of the grantee(s), all in alphabetical order, then enters the kind of instrument, the date of the instrument, the date it was received for recording, and the book and page number where it is recorded.  T.C.A. § 10-7-203.  Many index books now in use provide space for additional information, such as the civil district where the property is located, the number of acres transferred, and space for comments.  The space for comments should be used to inform the public of any unusual references or characteristics of the instrument.

Similarly, the register enters in the reverse index first the names of the grantee(s) and then the names of the grantor(s), the kind of instrument, the date the instrument was executed, the date it was received for recording, and the book and page number where it is recorded.  T.C.A. § 10‑7‑203.

After the register has indexed the instrument, it is returned to the person offering it for recording, if this has not already been done (after photocopy).  Although it is not legally required, many registers note in the notebook the date and means by which the instrument is returned.