ARS § 11-480 Requirements for Form of Instruments

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ARS §11-480

ARS §11-480 Requirements for Form of Instruments

by Richard Keyt, Arizona Real Estate Attorney

All documents offered to an Arizona county recorder for recording must satisfy the requirements of this statute or recording will be denied.

Arizona Revised Statutes Section 11-480. Requirements for Form of Instruments

A. Only an instrument which upon presentation to a county recorder for recordation fails to meet any of the following conditions may be rejected for recordation at the time of presentation for recordation:

Each instrument shall have a caption briefly stating the nature of the instrument, such as warranty deed, release of mortgage, notice of bulk sale and like captions. The county recorder shall have no obligation to index any instrument under any subject index category maintained by the county recorder unless that category is included in the caption to the instrument.
Each instrument shall be an original or a copy of the original and shall be sufficiently legible for the recorder to make certified copies from the photographic or micrographic record. (Unless otherwise required by law ie. death certificates & judgments)
Each instrument shall have original signatures, except when otherwise provided by law.
Each instrument dated and executed on or after January 1, 1991, shall be no larger than eight and one-half inches in width and no longer than fourteen inches and shall have a print size no smaller than ten point type.

B. Each instrument dated and executed on or after January 1, 1991, shall have at least a one-half inch margin across the top, bottom and the left and right sides from the top to the bottom. Any markings, entries or text which are within the one-half inch margin shall be deemed not to impart the notice otherwise imparted by recordation unless such markings, entries or text appear in the reproduction produced under the direction and control of the county recorder. Failure to meet the one-half inch margin requirement of this subsection may affect notice imparted by the document but shall not constitute grounds for rejection for recordation pursuant to subsection A.

C. The first page shall have a top margin of at least two inches which shall be reserved for recording information. The left three and one-half inches of the top margin of the first page or sheet may be used by the public to show the name of the person requesting recording and the name and address to which the document is to be returned following recording. If the first page of the instrument does not comply with the top margin requirements, a separate sheet that meets the requirement and that reflects the title of the document as required by subsection A, paragraph 1 shall be attached to the front of the document by the party requesting recording.

D. Any instrument presented to a county recorder for recordation which modifies in any way the provisions of a previously recorded document must state the date of recordation and the docket and page of the document being modified. Any instrument accepted for recordation is not subject to a later claim of invalidity for failure to comply with the requirements of this section.

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KEYTLaw.com and information about Arizona real estate matters are provided as a public service by Richard Keyt, a residential and commercial real estate attorney licensed to practice law in Arizona. Rick's telephone numbers are 602-906-4953, ext. 3 (voice) & 602-297-6890 (fax), and his email address is rickkeyt@keytlaw.com. Rick does not accept matters involving landlord / tenant disputes or litigation of any kind (other than tax lien foreclosures). Communicating with Richard Keyt via email or otherwise does not cause you to become a client or cause your communications to be confidential or subject to the attorney client privilege.

This page was last modified on December 12, 2009.

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