Title 28, Property
25 chapters · 359 sections in this title.
28 V.I.C. § 1 Definitions
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As used in this title, unless otherwise provided or the context requires a different meaning—“conveyance” includes every instrument in writing except a last will and testament, whatever may be its form and by whatever name it may be known in law, by which any estate or interest i…
28 V.I.C. § 10 Covenant for payment in mortgage
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A mortgage does not imply a covenant for the payment of the sum thereby intended to be secured. When there is no express covenant for such payment in the mortgage, and no bond or other separate instrument to secure such payment has been given, the remedies of the mortgagee are co…
28 V.I.C. § 11 Adverse possession
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The uninterrupted, exclusive, actual, physical adverse, continuous, notorious possession of real property under claim or color of title for 15 years or more shall be conclusively presumed to give title thereto, except as against the Government.
28 V.I.C. § 2 Interest conveyed; words of inheritance not required for fee simple
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An otherwise effective inter vivos or testamentary conveyance of real property transfers the entire interest which the conveyor has and has the power to convey unless an intent to transfer a less interest is effectively manifested. No words of inheritance or other special words s…
28 V.I.C. § 3 Quitclaim
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A deed of quitclaim and release shall be sufficient to pass all the real estate which the grantor could lawfully convey by a deed of bargain and sale.
28 V.I.C. § 4 Purported conveyance of greater estate by tenant for life or years
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A conveyance made by a tenant for life or years purporting to grant a greater estate than he possesses or can lawfully convey does not work a forfeiture of his estate, but passes to the grantee all the estate which such tenant can lawfully convey.
28 V.I.C. § 5 Conveyance, mortgage, or devise of property not in possession
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Any act which would be effective as a conveyance inter vivos or as a mortgage or as a testamentary disposition of property when the land or thing other than land is in the possession of the conveyor, is effective as a conveyance of the conveyor's interest therein, when the land o…
28 V.I.C. § 6 Remainder to heirs, children, etc.; Rule in Shelley's Case abolished
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(a) If any person by last will devises any real estate to any person for the term of such person's life, and after his death, to his or her children or heirs, or right heirs in fee, such devise shall vest an estate for life only in such devisee, and remainder in fee simple in suc…
28 V.I.C. § 7 Remedies of tenant in common; joint tenancies; tenants by the entireties
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(a) A tenant in common may maintain any proper action or proceeding against the cotenant for receiving more than his joint proportion of the rents or profits of the estate owned by them in common. (b) Every conveyance or devise of lands or an interest therein, except as provided …
28 V.I.C. § 8 Descent, solely or jointly
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When there is but one person entitled to inherit he shall take and hold the inheritance solely; when an inheritance or a share of an inheritance descends to several persons they shall, except as otherwise provided in section 7 of this title, take as tenants in common, in proporti…
28 V.I.C. § 9 Implied covenants generally
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No covenant shall be implied in any conveyance of real estate, whether such conveyance contains special covenants or not.
28 V.I.C. § 41 Manner of executing conveyance
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A conveyance of lands, or of any estate or interest therein, may be made by deed, signed by the person from whom the estate or interest is intended to pass, being of lawful age, or by his lawful agent or attorney and acknowledged or proved, and recorded as directed in this title,…
28 V.I.C. § 42 Execution and acknowledgment of deeds
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(a) Deeds executed within the Virgin Islands of lands or any interest in lands therein shall be executed in the presence of two witnesses, who shall subscribe their names to the same as such; and the persons executing such deeds may acknowledge the execution thereof as provided i…
28 V.I.C. § 43 Proof by subscribing witness of execution of conveyance
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Proof of the execution of any conveyance may be made before any officer authorized to take acknowledgment of deeds and shall be made by a subscribing witness thereto who shall state his own place of residence and that he knows the person described in and who executed the conveyan…
28 V.I.C. § 44 Compelling attendance of witness to prove execution of conveyance
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(a) Upon the application to the district court of any grantee, or of any person claiming under him, verified by the oath of the applicant, setting forth that the grantor is dead, out of the Virgin Islands, or refuses to acknowledge his deed, and that any witness to such conveyanc…
28 V.I.C. § 45 Proof of deed by proving handwriting
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When any grantor is dead, out of the Virgin Islands, or refuses to acknowledge his deed, and all the subscribing witnesses to such deed are also dead or reside out of the Virgin Islands, the deed may be proved before the district court, by proving the handwriting of the grantor a…
28 V.I.C. § 46 Certificate of court as to proof of conveyance
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Whenever the district court takes proof of any conveyance it shall issue a certificate, on the deed, over the signature of the judge thereof and the seal of the court, which shall set forth the things hereinbefore required to be done, known, or proved, together with the names of …
28 V.I.C. § 47 Construction of conveyance; description of property
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(1) The following are the rules for construing the descriptive part of a conveyance of real property when the construction is doubtful and there are no other sufficient circumstances to determine it:(1) Where there are certain definite and ascertained particulars in the descripti…
28 V.I.C. § 141 Short title
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This chapter may be cited as the Uniform Residential Mortgage Satisfaction Act.
28 V.I.C. § 141a Definitions
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(a) In this chapter:(a) “Address for giving a notification” means, for the purpose of a particular type of notification, the most recent address provided in a document by the intended recipient of the notification to the person giving the notification, unless the person giving th…
28 V.I.C. § 141b Notification: manner of giving and effective date
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(a) A person gives a notification by:(1) depositing it with the United States Postal Service with first-class postage paid or with a commercially reasonable delivery service with cost of delivery provided, properly addressed to the recipient’s address for giving a notification;(2…
28 V.I.C. § 141c Document of rescission: effect; liability for wrongful recording
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(a) In this section, “document of rescission” means a document stating that an identified satisfaction or affidavit of satisfaction of a security instrument was recorded erroneously, the secured obligation remains unsatisfied, and the security instrument remains in force. (b) If …
28 V.I.C. § 142 Payoff statement: request and content
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(a) An entitled person, or an agent authorized by an entitled person to request a payoff statement, may give to the secured creditor a notification requesting a payoff statement for a specified payoff date not more than thirty (30) days after the notification is given. The notifi…
28 V.I.C. § 142a Understated payoff statement: correction; effect
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(a) If a secured creditor determines that the payoff amount it provided in a payoff statement was understated, the creditor may send a corrected payoff statement. If the entitled person or the person’s authorized agent receives and has a reasonable opportunity to act upon a corre…
28 V.I.C. § 142b Secured creditor to submit satisfaction for recording; liability for failure
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(a) A secured creditor shall submit for recording a satisfaction of a security instrument within thirty (30) days after the creditor receives full payment or performance of the secured obligation and shall send a copy of the recorded satisfaction of a security instrument to the l…
28 V.I.C. § 142c Limitation of secured creditor’s liability
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(1) A secured creditor is not liable under this chapter if it:(1) established a reasonable procedure to achieve compliance with its obligations under this chapter;(2) complied with that procedure in good faith; and(3) was unable to comply with its obligations because of circumsta…
28 V.I.C. § 143 Definition; eligibility to serve as satisfaction agent; regulation of satisfaction agents
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(a) In this article, “title insurance company” means an organization authorized to conduct the business of insuring titles to real property in this state. (b) The following may serve as a satisfaction agent under this article:(1) a title insurance company, acting directly or thro…
28 V.I.C. § 143a Affidavit of satisfaction: notification to secured creditor
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(a) If a secured creditor has not submitted for recording a satisfaction of a security instrument within the period specified in section 142b(a), a satisfaction agent acting for and with authority from the landowner may give the secured creditor a notification that the satisfacti…
28 V.I.C. § 143b Affidavit of satisfaction: authorization to submit for recording
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(a) Subject to subsections (b) and (c), a satisfaction agent may sign and submit for recording an affidavit of satisfaction of a security instrument complying with section 143c if:(1) the secured creditor has not, to the knowledge of the satisfaction agent, submitted for recordin…
28 V.I.C. § 143c Affidavit of satisfaction: content
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(1) An affidavit of satisfaction of a security instrument must:(1) identify the original parties to the security instrument, the secured creditor, the recording data for the security instrument, and, if necessary for proper indexing of the affidavit, a legal description of the re…
28 V.I.C. § 143d Affidavit of satisfaction: form
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No particular phrasing of an affidavit of satisfaction is required. The following form of affidavit, when properly completed, is sufficient to satisfy the requirements of section 143c(a). _____________________________________. (Date of Affidavit) AFFIDAVIT OF SATISFACTION 1. The …
28 V.I.C. § 143e Affidavit of satisfaction: effect
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(a) Upon recording, an affidavit substantially complying with the requirements of section 143c constitutes a satisfaction of the security instrument described in the affidavit. (b) The recording of an affidavit of satisfaction of a security instrument does not by itself extinguis…
28 V.I.C. § 143f Liability of satisfaction agent
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(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), a satisfaction agent that records an affidavit of satisfaction of a security instrument erroneously or with knowledge that the statements contained in the affidavit are false is liable to the secured creditor for any actual dama…
28 V.I.C. § 144 Uniformity of application and construction
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In applying and construing this uniform act, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.
28 V.I.C. § 144a Relation to Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act
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This chapter modifies, limits, and supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. § 7001 et seq.) but does not modify, limit, or supersede section 101(c) of that act (15 U.S.C. § 7001(c)) or authorize electronic delivery of any of the …
28 V.I.C. § 121 Place of recording
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Documents affecting real property, which are required or permitted to be recorded, shall be recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds in the judicial division in which the property is located. If a document affects real property located in both judicial divisions, it shall …
28 V.I.C. § 122 Conveyances which may be recorded
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Every conveyance acknowledged or proved or certified by the district court as prescribed in chapter 3 of this title shall be entitled to be recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds; but such instrument, if not acknowledged, proved, or certified, shall not be recorded by th…
28 V.I.C. § 123 Certificate of reception and recording; time of recording
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The recorder of deeds shall certify upon each conveyance recorded by him the time when it was received and the reference to the book and the page where it is recorded. Every conveyance shall be considered as recorded at the time it was so received.
28 V.I.C. § 124 Unrecorded conveyance void as to subsequent innocent purchaser
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Every conveyance of real property hereafter made within the Virgin Islands which is not filed for record shall be void against any subsequent innocent purchaser in good faith and for a valuable consideration of the same real property, or any portion thereof, whose conveyance is f…
28 V.I.C. § 125 Recording of instrument of defeasance
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When a deed purports to be an absolute conveyance in terms, but is made or intended to be made defeasible by force of a deed of defeasance or other instrument for that purpose, the original conveyance shall not be thereby defeated or affected as against any person other than the …
28 V.I.C. § 126 Recording of assignment of mortgage
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The recording of the assignment of a mortgage shall not in itself be deemed notice of such assignment to the mortgagor, his heirs or personal representatives, so as to invalidate any payment made by them or either of them to the mortgagee.
28 V.I.C. § 127 Recording of discharge of mortgage
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(a) A mortgage may be discharged upon the record thereof by the recorder in whose custody it shall be whenever there shall be presented to him a certificate executed by the mortgagee, his personal representatives or assigns, acknowledged or proved and certified as prescribed in c…
28 V.I.C. § 128 Penalty for neglect or refusal to discharge mortgage
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If any mortgagee or his personal representative or assignee, as the case may be, after full performance of the condition of the mortgage, whether before or after a breach thereof, for the space of ten days after being thereto requested in writing, and after tender of his reasonab…
28 V.I.C. § 129 Recording of power to convey and contracts for sale or purchase
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Every letter of attorney or other instrument containing a power to convey lands as agent or attorney for the owner of such lands, and every executory contract for the sale or purchase of lands when acknowledged or proved in the manner prescribed in this title for the acknowledgme…
28 V.I.C. § 130 Recording of notices of pending actions and judgments
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Notices of pending actions affecting title to real estate, and judgments of courts in the Virgin Islands requiring the execution of a conveyance of real estate within the Virgin Islands, shall be entitled to be recorded in the office of the recorder in like manner and with like e…
28 V.I.C. § 131 Conveyances under prior laws
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(a) All conveyances of real property heretofore made and acknowledged or proved in accordance with the laws of the Virgin Islands in force at the time of such making and acknowledgment or proof shall be recorded in the same manner and with like effect as conveyances executed and …
28 V.I.C. § 132 Admissibility in evidence of documents and records thereof
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(a) Documents acknowledged or proved or certified as provided in sections 122, 129, and 131 of this title shall be admissible in evidence in any court in the Virgin Islands without further proof thereof. (b) The record of any document in the office of the recorder of deeds, or a …
28 V.I.C. § 133 Recording fees
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(a) The following fees shall be paid for the recording of deeds, mortgages, contracts, etc.—(1)not more than $400$11.00(2)more than $400 and not more than $600 12.00(3)more than $600 and not more than $1,000 13.00(4)more than $1,000 and not more than $2,00014.00(5)more than $2,00…
28 V.I.C. § 134 Exemptions from recording fees
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(a) The following documents are exempt from recording fees—(1) evidences of indebtedness in the case of loans by the Farm Security Administration and/or the United States Government acting through its agencies; and(2) all written instruments concerning or in any way connected wit…
28 V.I.C. § 151 Short title
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This chapter may be cited as the Virgin Islands Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act.