§ 1161 - General index
§ 1161. General index
(a)(1) A town clerk shall keep a general index of transactions affecting the title to real estate wherein he or she shall enter in one column, in alphabetical order, the name of the grantor to the grantee and, in a parallel column, the name of the grantee from the grantor, of every deed, conveyance, mortgage, lease or other instrument affecting the title to real estate, and each writ of attachment, notice of lien or other instrument evidencing or giving notice of an encumbrance on real estate which is filed or recorded in the town clerk's office, with the name of the book, volume, or other manner of recording and the page of record in the following form:
____________________________________________________________________________
Book Grantor Page Book Grantee Page
to from
Grantee Grantor
1 A. to B. 1 1 B. from A. 1
Book Grantor Page Book Grantee Page
to from
Grantee Grantor
1 A. to B. 1 1 B. from A. 1
(2) If the instrument is executed on behalf of, or to convey the interest of another party, the same shall be indexed in the name of the other party as grantor. In case the instrument is executed by more than one grantor and to more than one grantee, the name of each grantor and each grantee shall be indexed. When the party is a natural person the name shall be indexed under the first letter of such person's surname, and when the party is a corporation the name shall be indexed under the first letter of the first word of its name disregarding articles and initials. For purposes of this section, a defendant against whose property a writ of attachment is filed or a person against whose property a lien is asserted, shall be considered a grantor, and a plaintiff filing a writ, or a person asserting a lien shall be considered a grantee. Land plats filed in the office shall be indexed in such manner as the state archivist shall by rule prescribe. The general index may be kept electronically.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "transactions affecting title to real estate" shall include the instruments described in subsections 1154(a) and (b) of this title. Each owner of record title to the property at the time such an instrument is issued shall be listed as the grantor. The state of Vermont shall be listed as the grantee for instruments described in subdivisions 1154(a)(4), (5), and (8) of this title. The municipality issuing the instrument shall be listed as the grantee for instruments described in subdivision 1154(a)(6) of this title. (Amended 1969, No. 235 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1997, No. 125 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1999, No. 46, § 3, eff. May 26, 1999; 2001, No. 133 (Adj. Sess.), § 9; 2007, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 11.)