Section 44-2-2. Duty of clerk to record certain transaction affecting real estate and personal property; priority or recorded instruments; effect of recording on rights between parties to instruments

   (a)(1) The clerk of the superior court shall file, index on a computer program designed for such purpose, and permanently record, in the manner provided constructively in Code Sections 15-6-61 and 15-6-66, the following instruments conveying, transferring, encumbering, or affecting real estate and personal property:

      (A) Deeds;

      (B) Mortgages;

      (C) Liens of all kinds; and

      (D) Maps or plats relating to real estate in the county.

   (2) For the purpose of this subsection, "liens" shall be defined as provided in Code Sections 15-19-14, 44-14-320, and 44-14-602 and shall include all liens provided by state or federal statute.

   (3) When indexing liens, the clerk shall enter the names of debtors in the index in the manner provided for names of grantors conveying real estate in subsection (b) of Code Section 15-6-66 and the names of creditors or claimants in the manner as provided therein for names of grantees making such conveyances.

   (4) When indexing maps or plats relating to real estate in the county, the clerk of superior court shall index the names or titles provided in the caption of the plat, as required by paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of Code Section 15-6-67, as both the grantor and grantee.

(b) Deeds, mortgages, and liens of all kinds which are required by law to be recorded in the office of the clerk of the superior court and which are against the interests of third parties who have acquired a transfer or lien binding the same property and who are acting in good faith and without notice shall take effect only from the time they are filed for record in the clerk's office.

(c) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to affect the validity or force of any deed, mortgage, judgment, or lien of any kind between the parties thereto.

Ga. L. 1889, p. 106, §§ 1, 4; Civil Code 1895, §§ 2778, 2781; Civil Code 1910, §§ 3320, 3323; Code 1933, §§ 67-2501, 67-2503; Code 1981 § 44-2-2; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 44; Ga. L. 2002, p. 799, § 5; Ga. L. 2006, p. 334, § 1/SB 306.