§ 341. Requirements generally; recording

(a) Deeds and other conveyances of lands, or of an estate or interest in land, shall be signed by the party granting the same and acknowledged by the grantor before a notary public and recorded at length in the clerk’s office of the town in which the lands lie. The acknowledgment before a notary public shall be valid without an official stamp being affixed to the notary’s signature.

(b)(1) A deed or other conveyance of land that includes a reference to a survey prepared or revised after July 1, 1988 may be recorded only if it is accompanied by the survey to which it refers, or cites the volume and page in the land records showing where the survey has previously been recorded.

(2) If the conveyance of land results in the subdivision of a parcel or a change in the boundaries of a parcel after January 1, 2020, the deed shall:

(A) be accompanied by a survey plat that depicts the new parcel boundaries; or

(B) cite the volume and page in the land records that indicates where the new parcel boundaries have previously been recorded.

(3) The failure to comply with this subsection shall not:

(A) void or invalidate the deed or other instruments recorded; or

(B) render the title to the property depicted in the survey plat unmarketable.

(c) A lease of real property that has a term of more than one year from the making of the lease need not be recorded at length if a notice or memorandum of lease, which is executed and acknowledged as provided in subsection (a) of this section, is recorded in the land records of the town in which the leased property is situated. The notice of lease shall contain at least the following information:

(1) the names of the parties to the lease as set forth in the lease;

(2) a statement of the rights of a party to extend or renew the lease;

(3) any addresses set forth in the lease as those of the parties;

(4) the date of the execution of the lease;

(5) the term of the lease, the date of commencement, and the date of termination;

(6) a description of the real property as set forth in the lease;

(7) a statement of the rights of a party to purchase the real property or exercise a right of first refusal with respect thereto;

(8) a statement of any restrictions on assignment of the lease; and

(9) the location of an original lease.

(d)(1) A deed or other instrument may be recorded in the land records pursuant to this section for the purposes provided in this chapter and shall be deemed to impart notice of its contents if it is signed and acknowledged in accordance with the procedures specified in the Emergency Administrative Rules for Remote Notarial Acts adopted by the Vermont Secretary of State (the Emergency Rules) during the period that the Emergency Rules are in effect.

(2) A deed or other instrument executed in compliance with the Emergency Rules shall be presumed to be valid if the notarial certificate attached to the deed or other instrument contains an affirmative statement of compliance with the Emergency Rules. (Amended 1967, No. 231 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 24, 1968; 1973, No. 249 (Adj. Sess.), § 84, eff. April 9, 1974; 1987, No. 220 (Adj. Sess.); 1993, No. 174 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1997, No. 86 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2003, No. 150 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 2017, No. 24, § 3, eff. May 4, 2017; 2017, No. 28, § 5, eff. May 10, 2017; 2017, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. July 1, 2019; 2019, No. 38, § 5, eff. Jan. 1, 2020; 2019, No. 95 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 28, 2020; 2023, No. 6, § 323, eff. July 1, 2023.)