706.08 Nonrecording, effect. (1) (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
History: 1977 c. 253; 1989 a. 231; 1993 a. 486; 1999 a. 85; 2009 a. 320. 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). A purchaser having constructive notice that there may have been an unrecorded
History: 1983 a. 455; 1985 a. 29; 1995 a. 201. Sub. (3) (a) sets forth a general rule that an interest in minerals must be used at least once every 20 years to avoid lapsing. Sub. (3) (b) creates a three-year grace period—lasting from July 1, 1984, to July 1, 1987—during which owners could use their rights and thereby prevent the automatic lapse that would have otherwise occurred under sub. (3) (a). The use of an interest in mineral rights during the three-year period does not permanently prevent that interest from lapsing. Instead, once an interest has been used during the requisite three-year period, it is again subject to sub. (3) (a) and will lapse if not used at least once every 20 years. Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass’n, U.A. v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, 396 Wis. 2d 622, 957 N.W.2d 605, 20-0858. The U.S. Supreme Court’s conclusions in Texaco, 454 U.S. 516 (1982), compel a conclusion in this case that sub. (3) does not result in an unconstitutional taking of property without just compensation, nor does the statute violate due process for lack of notice. Similar to the statute at issue in Texaco, sub. (3) provides that a mineral rights owner’s interest lapses if not used for 20 years and sets forth a grace period during which owners who did not use their mineral rights during the previous twenty years could take action to prevent those rights from lapsing. Lakeland Area Property Owners Ass’n, U.A. v. Oneida County, 2021 WI App 19, 396 Wis. 2d 622, 957 N.W.2d 605, 20-0858. Due process requires that every owner of a recorded interest, including a mineral interest under this section, be provided written notice of an application for a tax deed. 74 Atty. Gen. 59. Under this section, the owner of land under which mineral rights have lapsed must record a claim to the lapsed mineral rights in order to foreclose a separate mineral rights owner from curing the lapse. 79 Atty. Gen. 61.