Does a land installment contract need to be recorded to be valid.

Noooo. But, valid is a term of art here. If it is NOT recorded, the reason is usually that the Seller thinks he can regain the property easier if the Buyer defaults at any point during the term of the agreement. NOT SO! In Florida, land installment contracts are otherwise known as "mortgages" which requires a foreclosure in case of default. Additionally, if it is NOT recorded and Buyer and/or Seller loses their copy of the contract, it can create issues. If it is NOT recorded - and the Seller dies before the Buyer finishes paying for the deed, the heirs might create an obstacle to the Buyer obtaining the deed or credit for what they have paid in installments. The cost to record is minimal and the rewards are many. It puts the world on notice that the Buyer has an interest in the property. If you are intending to be a Buyer or Seller on a land installment deed, you will save yourself a great deal of difficulty and expense down the road by paying a good real estate attorney now to draft the deed for you.

An installment land contract, like any other contract is valid between the parties if it is in writing and properly executed. The contract vendee can enforce the contract against the contract vendor or his heirs. However, if it is not recorded, the public has no notice of the rights of the contract vendee, and someone who buys the property from the contract vendor without notice of the installment land contract will take good title to the property and will eliminate the contract vendee's rights to the property. Whether the contract is recorded or not, the contract vendor must bring an action for foreclosure to terminate the contract vendee's rights to the property.

I agree with Marshall, but also wanted to point out two things. 1. Before you enter into the agreement, you should hire an attorney to run a title search on the property to ensure that there are no open mortgages on it- otherwise your seller may not be able to convey free and clear title to you once you are done paying off the installments. 2. Assuming that the property is free and clear you should definitely record a copy of the installment sales agreement (that includes a legal description of the property) to make sure that the seller does not take out a mortgage on the property while you are paying off your installments. Whenever clients ask me about doing an installment land sale,