Maine Condo Law states that only owners of record by deed have any rights to participate in association meetings and/or vote. If a spouse is not named on the warranty deed for the property filed with the county Registry of Deeds, but claims to hold a Quit Claim deed that is unregistered with any recording agency, how does the Board of Directors validate the Quit Claim?

In the actual situation at hand, the association must validate that a spouse of recorded owner was himself an owner at the time he nominated himself for a position on the Board of Directors. The association's by-laws and Maine Condo Law require that a BOD member must be an owner of record by deed. Therefore, unless the spouse can prove ownership, the BOD can't accept his candidacy for the position.

Is the BOD justified in accepting only Quit Claims that are registered with the State of Maine as proof of ownership? If not, how can the BOD assure the association that another unregistered Quit Claim doesn't exist which rescinds ownership? Or that multiple Quit Claims with conflicting transfers of ownership don't exist? Or that a Quit Claim hasn’t been executed which transfers all ownership to someone other than the wife AND the husband.

In summary, how can a BOD fulfill its duty to control access to the association if records of ownership aren’t traceable?

Deeds must usually be recorded with the county assessors office in order to be valid. I would suggest you contact an attorney to determine what the legal requirements are in Maine for recoridng a quitclaim deed.