To impress his new girlfriend, a man executed and delivered…
To impress his new girlfriend, a man executed and delivered to the girlfriend a warranty deed to a vacant cabin. The girlfriend promptly and properly recorded her deed. A month later, the girlfriend moved into the cabin and has occupied the property since. At the time of the conveyance to the girlfriend, the man did not actually own the cabin. His mother was the record title holder, but she had always told the man the cabin would one day be his. Later, the mother died, and her will devised the cabin to the man. Shortly thereafter, the man lost his job and needed money, so he sold the cabin for its full value to a neighbor by warranty deed. The neighbor promptly and properly recorded but did not conduct a title search before accepting the deed. Both the girlfriend and the neighbor now claim ownership of the cabin. The jurisdiction in which the cabin is located has the following statute: “No unrecorded conveyance or mortgage of real property shall be good against subsequent purchasers for value without notice unless the conveyance is recorded.” Who has title to the cabin?