W. Va. Code » §40-1-8. Effect of recording certain contracts as to creditors and purchasers; memorandum of lease may be recorded.
West Virginia Code

W. Va. Code § 40-1-8 (2026)

Effect of recording certain contracts as to creditors and purchasers; memorandum of lease may be recorded

✓ current as of May 2026
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ARTICLE 1. ACTS GENERALLY VOID AS TO CREDITORS AND PURCHASERS.

§40-1-8. Effect of recording certain contracts as to creditors and purchasers; memorandum of lease may be recorded.

Any contract in writing made in respect to real estate or goods and chattels in consideration of marriage; or any contract in writing made for the conveyance or sale of real estate, or an interest or term therein of more than five years, or any other interest or term therein, of any duration, under which the whole or any part of the corpus of the estate may be taken, destroyed, or consumed, except for domestic use, shall, from the time it is duly admitted to record, be, as against creditors and purchasers, as valid as if the contract were a deed conveying the estate or interest embraced in the contract. In lieu of the recording of a lease pursuant to this section, there may be recorded with like effect a memorandum of such lease, executed by all persons who are parties to the lease and acknowledged in the manner to entitle a conveyance to be recorded. A memorandum of lease thus entitled to be recorded shall contain at least the following information with respect to the lease: The name of the lessor and the name of the lessee and the addresses of such parties as set forth in the lease; a reference to the lease, with its date of execution; a description of the leased premises in the form contained in the lease; the term of the lease, with the date of commencement and the date of termination of such term, and if there is a right of extension or renewal, the maximum period for which, or date to which, the lease may be extended, or the number of times or date to which it may be renewed and the date or dates on which such rights of extension or renewal are exercisable. Such memorandum shall constitute notice of only the information contained therein.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1989–2026 · leading case: Harkins v. Wheeling Nat'l Bank (In Re Morgan), 96 B.R. 615 (Bankr. N.D.W. Va. 1989).
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Harkins v. Wheeling Nat'l Bank (In Re Morgan), 96 B.R. 615 (Bankr. N.D.W. Va. 1989). “Code, 1931, § 40-1-8, as amended, provides, where pertinent: Any contract in writing .”
EQT Prod. Copmany v. Antero Resources Corp., No. 19-0572 (W. Va. Nov. 12, 2020). · cites it 10× “See W. Va. Code § 40-1-8 (discussed infra in greater detail).”
Benson v. High Road Operating, LLC, No. 5:20-cv-00229 (N.D.W. Va. June 15, 2022). · cites it 2× “) It further provides that Plaintiffs, as lessors, and Defendant, as lessee, “have entered into that certain Lease,” and have “executed, acknowledged, and delivered this Memorandum of Lease in accordance with W. Va. Code § 40-1-8 [.]” (Id.) Additionally, the Memorandum states…”
U.S. Expl., LLC & Harry Slack v. Griffin Producing Co., 844 S.E.2d 89 (W. Va. 2020). “6 entered an order granting Griffin’s motion for partial summary judgment, concluding as a matter of law that Magnum’s Modification and Surrender “were not ‘conveyances’ or ‘sales of interests in real estate’ and therefore are not subject to the requirements of the recording…”
The Shumard Found., Inc. v. UMB Bank, N.A., in its capacity as Successor Master Tr. under that certain Master Trust Indenture dated as of August 31, 2007, between Ohio Valley Univ., Inc., & United Bank, Inc., & B. Riley Fin. Inc., & Ohio Valley Univ., Inc., No. 23-ICA-290 (Feb. 27, 2026). “Thus, the PPLP Deed of Trust is an assignment that is subject to our state’s recording act both as a contract and deed pursuant to West Virginia Code §§ 40-1-8 and -9, both of which are required to be recorded by the county clerk.”
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