[Lawdog]

If I had to compile a list of the stupidest things a person could do, buying a piece of land and intentionally not recording the deed would definitely be on there.

It's true that you don't "have to" record your deed, insofar as there is no criminal penalty for not recording. But it could cost you the property. And publishing some sort of "notice" in the local paper is not the legally effective notice that would keep someone else from claiming the property. Legally effective notice is...recording your deed. Gee, what a concept.

There are three types of laws regarding recordation of title to real property: race, notice, and race-notice. Here's a good overview (for some reason no indication is given as to which system Virginia uses, but it's probably either notice or race-notice, as those are the overwhelming majority):

What are the Recording Acts?
The Recording Acts are state statutes that establish the keeping of official county records to track public land ownership. The Acts help settle conflicts of ownership in real property by prioritizing documents of ownership. However, the order of priority depends on the type of statute that the state has adopted: race, notice, or race-notice.

Race statute
Also known as the “Race to the courthouse.” The rule that the document recorded first wins and will have priority over any later recordings.

States that follow the Race statute: Delaware, Louisiana, and North Carolina.

Notice statute
A later buyer who pays fair value for the property and does not have notice that there were any other earlier conflicting interests, wins and will have priority over any later recordings.

States that follow the Notice statute: Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and West Virginia.

Race-Notice statute
A later buyer who pays fair value, does not have notice of any other earlier conflicting interests, and records first, wins and will have priority over any later recordings.

States that follow the Race-Notice statute: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio (regarding mortgages, OH follows the Race statute), Oregon, Pennsylvania (regarding mortgages, PN follows Race), South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

What is the Purpose for the Recording Acts?
The purpose of the Recording Acts is to protect people who have acted in good faith and paid value for property. (The concept of “good faith” entitles one to act promptly and reasonably and is usually implied in every contract). The Acts do not create a criminal penalty for not recording, just a strong incentive to record documents for public record. By recording a document, you’re giving the general public constructive notice of your ownership rights. Until a document is recorded properly, title to property could be at risk from later good-faith purchasers.

http://www.legalmatch.com/law-librar...ding-acts.html