A grant deed can be used in North Carolina to transfer title to real property. This type of deed falls between a warranty deed and a quitclaim deed.

In a grant deed, the seller (grantor) warrants that the property is free from any encumbrances except those that have been previously disclosed to the buyer (grantee). The seller also guarantees that he does in fact hold title to the property and has the right to convey it to the buyer.

A grant deed must be signed and properly acknowledged by the grantor before an officer authorized by the state to take acknowledgments of deeds. Section 47-38 of the North Carolina General Statutes provides an individual form for acknowledgement by a grantor. If a deed has been executed and acknowledged in a state other than North Carolina, the deed must conform to North Carolina law in order to be recorded in this state. Grant deeds must be executed and acknowledged in strict compliance with the North Carolina acknowledgment provisions in order to be recorded and to provide constructive notice.

North Carolina has a pure race recording statute. No conveyance of land in this state will be valid to pass any property interest as against lien creditors or purchasers for a valuable consideration from the donor, bargainer, or lesser but from the time it is registered in the county where the land lies, or if the land is in more than one county, until the conveyance is registered in each such county. Unless it is otherwise stated on the grant deed or on a separate registered instrument executed by the party whose priority interest is adversely affected, instruments registered in the office of the register of deeds will have priority based on the order of registration as determined by the time of registration. If instruments are registered simultaneously, then priority is determined by the earliest document number set forth on the registered instrument or the sequential book and page number (47 18).

(North Carolina Grant Deed Package includes form, guidelines, and completed example)

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