Chapter 706

706.06(1) (1) Any instrument may be acknowledged, or its execution otherwise authenticated by its signators, as provided by the laws of this state; or as provided in this section or ch. 140.

706.06(2) (2) Any public officer entitled by virtue of his or her office to administer oaths, and any member in good standing of the State Bar of Wisconsin, may authenticate one or more of the signatures on an instrument relating to lands in this state, by endorsing the instrument “Acknowledged,” “Authenticated,” or “Signatures Guaranteed,” or other words to similar effect, adding the date of authentication, his or her own signature, and his or her official or professional title. The endorsement, unless expressly limited, shall operate as an authentication of all signatures on the instrument; and shall constitute a certification that each authenticated signature is the genuine signature of the person represented; and, as to signatures made in a representative capacity, shall constitute a certification that the signer purported, and was believed, to be such representative.

706.06(3) (3) Affidavits shall be authenticated by a certificate of due execution of the instrument, executed by a person entitled to administer oaths.

706.06(4) (4) In addition to any criminal penalty or civil remedy otherwise provided by law, knowingly false authentication of an instrument shall subject the authenticator to liability in tort for compensatory and punitive damages caused thereby to any person.

706.06 History History: 1971 c. 211; 1973 c. 243; 1979 c. 110; 1983 a. 492 s. 3; 1993 a. 486; 2001 a. 103; 2019 a. 125.

706.08 706.08 Nonrecording, effect.

706.08(1) (1) 

706.08(1)(a) (a) Except for patents issued by the United States or this state, or by the proper officers of either, every conveyance that is not recorded as provided by law shall be void as against any subsequent purchaser, in good faith and for a valuable consideration, of the same real estate or any portion of the same real estate whose conveyance is recorded first.

706.08(1)(b) (b) A conveyance of mineral interests which is not recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county in which the land is located, within 30 days after it is signed by the lessor, is void.

706.08(2) (2) Where a public tract index or abstract of title index is maintained, an instrument properly indexed therein and recorded at length at the place there shown shall be deemed to be duly recorded for purposes of this section, despite any error or omission in the process of including the instrument, or prior instruments in the same chain of title, in other records. Where an instrument is not properly indexed in such tract or abstract of title index, or where such index is not publicly maintained, the instrument shall be deemed to be duly recorded only if the instrument, together with prior instruments necessary to trace title by use of alphabetical indexes by names of parties, are properly indexed in such alphabetical indexes, and recorded at length at the places there shown. Wherever an instrument is duly recorded hereunder, its record shall be effective as of the date and hour at which it is shown by the general index to have been accepted for record.

706.08(3) (3) When an express trust is created, but its existence is not disclosed in a recorded conveyance to the trustee, the title of the trustee shall be deemed absolute as against the subsequent creditors of the trustee not having notice of the trust and as against purchasers from such trustee without notice and for a valuable consideration.

706.08(4) (4) It shall be conclusively presumed that a person is a trustee of a valid express trust and has full power of conveyance if all of the following occur:

706.08(4)(a) (a) The person is designated as trustee and holds an interest in land as trustee.

706.08(4)(b) (b) The person’s authority and powers as trustee are not set forth in a recorded instrument.

706.08(4)(c) (c) The person conveys an interest in land as trustee to a good faith purchaser, as defined in s. 401.201 (2) (qm).

706.08(5) (5) When a conveyance purports to be absolute in terms, but is made or intended to be made defeasible by force of another instrument for that purpose, the original conveyance shall not be thereby defeated or affected as against any person other than the maker of the defeasance or the maker’s heirs or devisees or persons having actual notice thereof, unless the instrument of defeasance has been recorded in the office of the register of deeds of the county where the lands lie.

706.08(6) (6) The recording of an assignment of a mortgage shall not in itself be deemed notice of such assignment to the mortgagor so as to invalidate any payment made to the mortgagee without actual notice of such assignment.

706.08(7) (7) No letter of attorney or other instrument containing a power to convey lands, when executed and recorded under this chapter, shall be deemed to be revoked by any act of the party by whom it was executed unless the instrument containing such revocation is also recorded in the same office in which the instrument containing the power was recorded, and such record shall import notice to all persons, including the agent named in said letter of attorney of the contents thereof. The death of the party executing such letter of attorney shall not operate as a revocation thereof as to the attorney or agent until the attorney or agent has notice of the death, or as to one who without notice of such death in good faith deals with the attorney or agent.

706.08 History History: 1977 c. 253; 1989 a. 231; 1993 a. 486; 1999 a. 85; 2009 a. 320.

706.08 Annotation An unrecorded conveyance, if delivered, is valid against judgment creditors since they are not bona fide creditors for value. West Federal Savings & Loan Ass’n v. Interstate Investment, Inc., 57 Wis. 2d 690, 205 N.W.2d 361 (1973).

706.08 Annotation A purchaser having constructive notice that there may have been an unrecorded conveyance was not a “purchaser in good faith” under sub. (1) (a). Kordecki v. Rizzo, 106 Wis. 2d 713, 317 N.W.2d 479 (1982).

706.08 Annotation An original mortgagee’s knowledge of a prior mortgage not properly of record will not be imputed to an assignee of the mortgage with no knowledge of the prior mortgage and does not render the assignee not a purchaser in good faith under sub. (1) (a) who cannot claim priority. Bank of New Glarus v. Swartwood, 2006 WI App 224, 297 Wis. 2d 458, 725 N.W.2d 944, 05-0647.

706.08 Annotation “Good faith” for purposes of sub. (1) (a) exists only when there is no notice under s. 706.09. Anderson v. Quinn, 2007 WI App 260, 306 Wis. 2d 686, 743 N.W.2d 492, 06-2462.

706.085 706.085 Correction instruments.

706.085(1) (1) Entitled to be recorded; purposes. An instrument correcting a previously recorded conveyance shall be entitled to record in accordance with s. 706.05 in the office of the register of deeds of the county in which the conveyance is recorded and shall include one or more of the following:

706.085(1)(a) (a) The correction of a legal description, including a distance; angle; direction; bearing; chord; lot, block, unit, or building number or letter; appurtenant easement; section number; township name or number; municipality, county, or state name; range number or meridian; certified survey map number; or subdivision or condominium name.

706.085(1)(b) (b) The addition, correction, or clarification of information other than a legal description, including any of the following information:

706.085(1)(b)1. 1. A party’s name, including the spelling of the name; a first or middle name or initial; a name suffix, such as senior or junior; alternate names by which the party is known; or a description of an entity as a corporation, company, or similar identifier.

706.085(1)(b)2. 2. A party’s marital status.

706.085(1)(b)3. 3. The date on which the conveyance was executed.

706.085(1)(b)4. 4. Whether the property is a homestead.

706.085(1)(b)5. 5. The tax parcel number.

706.085(1)(b)6. 6. The identity of the drafter.

706.085(1)(b)7. 7. The recording data for an instrument referenced in the conveyance.

706.085(1)(b)8. 8. The nature and purpose of the conveyance.

706.085(1)(b)9. 9. The title of the conveyance.

706.085(1)(b)10. 10. Facts relating to the acknowledgment or authentication.

706.085(1)(c) (c) The addition of an acknowledgment or authentication.

706.085(1)(d) (d) The disclaimer by a grantee under a deed of that party’s interest in the real property that is the subject of the deed.

706.085(1)(e) (e) The addition of a mortgagee’s consent or subordination.

706.085(2) (2) Execution requirements.

706.085(2)(a) (a) A correction instrument shall be acknowledged or authenticated in accordance with s. 706.06 or ch. 140. It shall recite the document number of the conveyance, the names of the grantor and grantee, and, if given on the conveyance, the volume and page where the conveyance is filed or recorded.

706.085(2)(b) (b)

706.085(2)(b)1. 1. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, a correction instrument that is executed after May 28, 2010, may be executed by a person having personal knowledge of the circumstances of the conveyance and of the facts recited in the correction instrument, including the grantor, the grantee, the person who drafted the conveyance that is the subject of the correction instrument, or the person who acted as the settlement agent in the transaction that is the subject of the conveyance, and shall recite the basis for the person’s personal knowledge. A correction instrument that was executed before May 28, 2010, is not rendered ineffective by reason of the instrument’s failure to recite that the maker had the knowledge or capacity required under this subdivision.

706.085(2)(b)2. 2. A correction instrument that makes the correction under sub. (1) (e) shall be signed by the consenting party, or an heir, successor, or assignee of the party.

706.085(2)(b)3. 3. A correction instrument that adds, removes, or replaces a divisible parcel in a conveyance shall be signed by the following persons:

706.085(2)(b)3.a. a. If the correction instrument supplies a lot, block, unit, or building number or letter that was omitted from a conveyance, by any party identified in subd. 1.

706.085(2)(b)3.b. b. If a parcel is being added to a conveyance that also correctly conveys other land, only by the grantor.

706.085(2)(b)3.c. c. If a parcel is being removed from a conveyance that also correctly conveys other land, only by the grantee.

706.085(2)(b)3.d. d. If a lot or unit number or letter is being corrected and the lot or unit incorrectly recited in the conveyance is also owned by the grantor, only by the grantee.

706.085(2)(b)3.e. e. If a lot, block, unit, or building number or letter is being corrected and the lot or unit incorrectly recited in the conveyance is not also owned by the grantor, by any party identified in subd. 1.

706.085(2)(c) (c) A person who executes and records a correction instrument shall send notice of that fact by 1st class mail to all parties to the transaction that was the subject of the conveyance at their last-known addresses.

706.085(3) (3) Effect of record. All of the following apply to the record of a correction instrument that complies with this section, or a certified copy of the record:

706.085(3)(a) (a) It is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the instrument; is presumed to be true, subject to rebuttal; and constitutes notice to a purchaser under s. 706.09 of the facts recited in the instrument.

706.085(3)(b) (b) It may be asserted by a purchaser for a valuable consideration against any person making an adverse or inconsistent claim under s. 706.09 (1) (i).

706.085(4) (4) Previously recorded instruments are valid. Any instrument recorded before May 28, 2010, that purports to correct a previously recorded conveyance and that would have been a valid correction instrument under this section had this section been in effect when the instrument was recorded is hereby validated.

706.085 History History: 2009 a. 348; 2017 a. 102; 2019 a. 125.

706.085 Annotation Practice Tips: Correcting Real Estate Documents. Andrew. Wis. Law. Oct. 2010.

706.09 706.09 Notice of conveyance from the record.

706.09(1) (1) When conveyance is free of prior adverse claim. A purchaser for a valuable consideration, without notice as defined in sub. (2), and the purchaser’s successors in interest, shall take and hold the estate or interest purported to be conveyed to such purchaser free of any claim adverse to or inconsistent with such estate or interest, if such adverse claim is dependent for its validity or priority upon:

706.09(1)(a) (a) Nondelivery. Nondelivery, or conditional or revocable delivery, of any recorded conveyance, unless the condition or revocability is expressly referred to in such conveyance or other recorded instrument.

706.09(1)(b) (b) Conveyance outside chain of title not identified by definite reference. Any conveyance, transaction or event not appearing of record in the chain of title to the real estate affected, unless such conveyance, transaction or event is identified by definite reference in an instrument of record in such chain. No reference shall be definite which fails to specify, by direct reference to a particular place in the public land record, or, by positive statement, the nature and scope of the prior outstanding interest created or affected by such conveyance, transaction or event, the identity of the original or subsequent owner or holder of such interest, the real estate affected, and the approximate date of such conveyance, transaction or event.

706.09(1)(c) (c) Unrecorded extensions of interests expiring by lapse of time. Continuance, extension or renewal of rights of grantees, purchasers, optionees, or lessees under any land contract, option, lease or other conveyance of an interest limited to expire, absolutely or upon a contingency, within a fixed or determinable time, where 2 years have elapsed after such time, unless there is recorded a notice or other instrument referring to such continuance, extension or renewal and stating or providing a later time for the enforcement, exercise, performance or termination of such interest and then only if less than 2 years have elapsed after such later time. This paragraph shall not apply to life estates, mortgages or trust deeds, nor shall it inferentially extend any interest otherwise expiring by lapse of time.

706.09(1)(d) (d) Nonidentity of persons in chain of title. Nonidentity of persons named in, signing or acknowledging one or more related conveyances or instruments affecting real estate, provided the persons appear in such conveyances under identical names or under variants thereof, including inclusion, exclusion or use of: commonly recognized abbreviations, contractions, initials, or foreign, colloquial, or other equivalents; first or middle names or initials; simple transpositions which produce substantially similar pronunciation; articles or prepositions in names or titles; description of entities as corporations, companies, or any abbreviation or contraction of either; name suffixes such as senior or junior; where such identity or variance has appeared of record for 5 years.

706.09(1)(e) (e) Marital interests. Homestead of the spouse of any transferor of an interest in real estate, if the recorded conveyance purporting to transfer the homestead states that the person executing it is single, unmarried or widowed or fails to indicate the marital status of the transferor, and if the conveyance has, in either case, appeared of record for 5 years. This paragraph does not apply to the interest of a married person who is described of record as a holder in joint tenancy or of marital property with that transferor.

706.09(1)(f) (f) Lack of authority of officers, agents or fiduciaries. Any defect or insufficiency in authorization of any purported officer, partner, manager, agent, or fiduciary to act in the name or on behalf of any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, principal, trust, estate, minor, individual adjudicated incompetent, or other holder of an interest in real estate purported to be conveyed in a representative capacity, after the conveyance has appeared of record for 5 years.

706.09(1)(g) (g) Defects in judicial proceedings. Any defect or irregularity, jurisdictional or otherwise, in an action or proceeding out of which any judgment or order affecting real estate issued after the judgment or order has appeared of record for 5 years.

706.09(1)(h) (h) Nonexistence, incapacity or incompetency. Nonexistence, acts in excess of legal powers or legal incapacity or incompetency of any purported person or legal entity, whether natural or artificial, foreign or domestic, provided the recorded conveyance or instrument affecting the real estate shall purport to have been duly executed by such purported person or legal entity, and shall have appeared of record for 5 years.

706.09(1)(i) (i) Facts not asserted of record. Any fact not appearing of record, but the opposite or contradiction of which appears affirmatively and expressly in a conveyance, affidavit or other instrument of record in the chain of title of the real estate affected for 5 years. Such facts may, without limitation by noninclusion, relate to age, sex, birth, death, capacity, relationship, family history, descent, heirship, names, identity of persons, marriage, marital status, homestead, possession or adverse possession, residence, service in the armed forces, conflicts and ambiguities in descriptions of land in recorded instruments, identification of any recorded plats or subdivisions, corporate authorization to convey, and the happening of any condition or event which terminates an estate or interest.

706.09(1)(j) (j) Defects in tax deed. Nonexistence or illegality of any proceedings from and including the assessment of the real estate for taxation up to and including the execution of the tax deed after the tax deed has been of record for 5 years.

706.09(1)(k) (k) Interests not of record within 30 years. Any interest of which no affirmative and express notice appears of record within 30 years.

706.09(2) (2) Notice of prior claim. A purchaser has notice of a prior outstanding claim or interest, within the meaning of this section wherever, at the time such purchaser’s interest arises in law or equity:

706.09(2)(a) (a) Affirmative notice. Such purchaser has affirmative notice apart from the record of the existence of such prior outstanding claim, including notice, actual or constructive, arising from use or occupancy of the real estate by any person at the time such purchaser’s interest therein arises, whether or not such use or occupancy is exclusive; but no constructive notice shall be deemed to arise from use or occupancy unless due and diligent inquiry of persons using or occupying such real estate would, under the circumstances, reasonably have disclosed such prior outstanding interest; nor unless such use or occupancy is actual, visible, open and notorious; or

706.09(2)(b) (b) Notice of record within 30 years. There appears of record in the chain of title of the real estate affected, within 30 years and prior to the time at which the interest of such purchaser arises in law or equity, an instrument affording affirmative and express notice of such prior outstanding interest conforming to the requirements of definiteness of sub. (1) (b); or

706.09(2)(c) (c) Same. The applicable provisions of sub. (1) (c) to (k) requiring that an instrument remain for a time of record, have not been fully satisfied.

706.09(3) (3) When prior interest not barred. This section shall not be applied to bar or infringe any prior outstanding interest in real estate:

706.09(3)(a) (a) Public service corporations, railroads, electric cooperatives, trustees, natural gas companies, governmental units. While owned, occupied or used by any public service corporation, any railroad corporation as defined in s. 195.02 (1), any water carrier as defined in s. 195.02 (5), any electric cooperative organized and operating on a nonprofit basis under ch. 185, any natural gas company, as defined in 15 USC 717a (6), or any trustee or receiver of any such corporation, electric cooperative, or natural gas company, or any mortgagee or trust deed trustee or receiver thereof; nor any such interest while held by the United States, the state or any political subdivision or municipal corporation thereof; or

706.09(3)(b) (b) Unplatted, unimproved, unused, etc. Which, at the time such subsequent purchaser’s interest arises, is unplatted, vacant and unoccupied, unused, unimproved and uncultivated; except that this paragraph shall not apply to prior interests dependent for validity or priority upon the circumstances described in sub. (1) (a), (b), (j) and (k).

706.09(4) (4) Chain of title: definition. The term “chain of title” as used in this section includes instruments, actions and proceedings discoverable by reasonable search of the public records and indexes affecting real estate in the offices of the register of deeds and in probate and of clerks of courts of the counties in which the real estate is located; a tract index shall be deemed an index where the same is publicly maintained.

706.09(5) (5) Construction. Nothing in this section shall be construed to raise or support any inference adverse or hostile to marketability of titles.

706.09(6) (6) Effective date. This section shall take effect and may be invoked by qualified purchasers without notice as defined in sub. (2) whose interests arise on or after July 1, 1968, and by their successors in interest thereafter.

706.09 History History: 1975 c. 94 s. 91 (16); 1979 c. 110; 1983 a. 186; 1987 a. 330; 1993 a. 112, 486, 496; 2005 a. 179, 387; 2009 a. 378, 379.

706.09 Annotation This section does not create or govern interests in land but deals with circumstances when a purchaser of land will be held to have notice of adverse interests. Interests arising through adverse possession or use are governed by ch. 893. Rock Lake Estates Unit Owners Ass’n v. Township of Lake Mills, 195 Wis. 2d 348, 536 N.W.2d 415 (Ct. App. 1995), 94-2488.

706.09 Annotation A purchaser of land has three sources of information from which to learn of rights to the land: 1) records in the office of the register of deeds; 2) other public records that are usually not recorded, such as judgments and liens; and 3) the land itself, to find rights that arise by virtue of possession or use. The purchaser is chargeable with knowledge of the location of the land’s boundaries as against third persons. Hoey Outdoor Advertising, Inc. v. Ricci, 2002 WI App 231, 256 Wis. 2d 347, 653 N.W.2d 763, 01-2186.

706.09 Annotation Sub. (2) (b) does not require purchasers for value to find, in the absence of a proper recording, that an interest could possibly be discovered. Such a requirement would be contrary to the very purpose of the recording statutes, to ensure a clear and certain system of property conveyance. Associates Financial Services Co. of Wisconsin v. Brown, 2002 WI App 300, 258 Wis. 2d 915, 656 N.W.2d 56, 01-3416.

706.09 Annotation Sub. (1) (k) applies to easements. Turner v. Taylor, 2003 WI App 256, 268 Wis. 2d 628, 673 N.W.2d 716, 03-0705.

706.09 Annotation An original mortgagee’s knowledge of a prior mortgage not properly of record will not be imputed to an assignee of the mortgage with no knowledge of the prior mortgage and does not render the assignee not a purchaser in good faith under s. 706.08 (1) (a) who cannot claim priority. Bank of New Glarus v. Swartwood, 2006 WI App 224, 297 Wis. 2d 458, 725 N.W.2d 944, 05-0647.

706.09 Annotation The notice requirements in sub. (2) explain when use or occupancy gives a buyer a duty to inquire about rights held by others. Nothing in that section distinguishes between prescriptive rights and improperly recorded rights. Anderson v. Quinn, 2007 WI App 260, 306 Wis. 2d 686, 743 N.W.2d 492, 06-2462.

706.09 Annotation A condominium declaration is plainly an instrument under sub. (2) (b) in that it contains a “definite reference” to the common elements, including by legal description and plat map. In this case, the condominium association’s interest in the common elements was within the property’s chain of title. From review of the declaration, a subsequent quit claim deed, and existing law, a purchaser would have been aware that the declarant was without the authority to cause the association to convey the common elements to the purchaser, and then only if there was a removal instrument under s. 703.28 allowing severance of the land into a parcel separate from the condominium. Lakes of Ville Du Parc Condominium Ass’n v. City of Mequon, 2021 WI App 48, 398 Wis. 2d 770, 963 N.W.2d 146, 20-0600.