Under the explicit language of Code sections 558.41(1) and .42 I think the mortgage is invalid against either of a) the State of Iowa or b) a good faith purchaser for value without notice (GFPFVWN).
As between mortgagor and mortgagee it is valid.  Ditto for a person who obtains title to the property but lacks the status of GFPFVWN. 
Reacknowledgment and refiling should effectively provide constructive notice to future GFPFVWNs.   Bartels v. Hennessey Bros., Inc., 164 N.W.2d 87 (Iowa 1969).

558.41 Recording
1.  Effect of recording.  An instrument affecting real estate is of no validity against subsequent purchasers for a valuable consideration, without notice, or against the state or any of its political subdivisions during and after condemnation proceedings against the real estate, unless the instrument is filed and recorded in the county in which the real estate is located, as provided in this chapter.
  
558.42 Acknowledgment as condition precedent.
A document shall not be deemed lawfully recorded, unless it has been previously acknowledged or proved in the manner prescribed in Chapter 9B... 

Absence of the prescribed acknowledgment is a patent defect in your mortgage, insofar as the recorded mortgage is intended to notify others of its existence.

*Lake v. Gray, 30 Iowa 415 (1871):
"It is first claimed by appellant that since the grantee did not acknowledge the deed, it is void and was not lawfully recorded. This is not so. A deed is valid and binding between the parties to it, though it be neither acknowledged or recorded. Brinton v. Seevers, 12 Iowa, 392; Haynes, Hutt & Co. v. Seachrest, 13 Id. 455; McHenry v. Day, Id. 445." 

*Rankin v. Miller, 43 Iowa 11 (1876):
"Towner's deed to plaintiff's ancestor, executed in 1854, was acknowledged before a justice of the peace of the state of Illinois and the certificate of acknowledgment, in other respects, does not comply with the requirements of the law, especially in failing to show that the grantor acknowledged the deed to be his voluntary act. At that date, the acknowledgment of deeds for lands in this state could not be made before justices of the peace in other states. The deed was recorded October 1, 1855. ...
"The deed from the purchaser to plaintiff's ancestor, under whom plaintiff claims, is defectively acknowledged and it is not, therefore, lawfully recorded. ...
"Rev., § 1941, the statute requiring the registry of deeds, is in the following language: “No instrument affecting real estate is of any validity against subsequent purchasers for a valuable consideration, without notice, unless recorded in the office of the recorder of the county, etc.” The statute protects subsequent purchasers and no others. The very language of the statute leads to the conclusion that there are such as claim under the chain of title of which the deeds affected by the provision are a part. It is intended to protect the purchaser whose deed is recorded, against another conveyance that is not recorded, and contemplates the case of conflicting deeds conveying title and having a common source. No protection is intended against an independent title, distinct from that upon which the recorded deed is based." 

*Bresser v. Saarman, 112 Iowa 720 84 N.W. 920 (1901):
"The articles, then, are sufficient. Were they properly acknowledged and filed for record, as required by sections 2309 and 2310 of the Code? At the time they were executed the Code provided that a deed conveying real estate should not be deemed lawfully recorded, unless it had previously been acknowledged or proved in a specified manner; that acknowledgment in the state should be made before some justice of the peace or notary public of the state; and, if without the state, before some notary public or justice of the peace; and, when made by a justice of the peace, a certificate under the official seal of the proper authority of the official character of said justice of the peace, and of his authority to take such acknowledgments, and of the genuineness of his signature, “shall accompany said certificate of acknowledgment.” Presuming, as we must, in the absence of proof to the contrary, that the laws of Nebraska are similar to our own, it follows that a justice of the peace of that state may take and make acknowledgments. The instrument, so far as the adopting parents are concerned, was properly acknowledged before a notary public in this state. But it will be observed that the natural parent's acknowledgment was taken before a justice of the peace in the state of Nebraska, and that no certificate of the official character of the justice, of his authority to take acknowledgments, and of the genuineness of his signature accompanied the certificate of acknowledgment. This is said to be a fatal defect. Without this certificate under the official seal of the proper authority, the acknowledgment is invalid. Jones v. Berkshire, 15 Iowa, 248. And it follows that the articles were not lawfully recorded. This is practically conceded by counsel for appellee..."

*Chipman's Subdivision Homeowners Ass'n, Inc. v. Carney, 814 N.W.2d 622 (Iowa App. 2012)(Table):
"Finally, the 1986 covenants were not acknowledged or notarized. See Iowa Code § 558.42 (“A document shall not be deemed lawfully recorded, unless it has been previously acknowledged or proved in the manner prescribed in chapter 9E [Iowa Law on Notarial Acts]....”).
"The district court found that because the documents were recorded, they were enforceable. However, the recording of a document does not demonstrate its validity..."


David Hanson
Hofmeyer & Hanson PC
Fayette, Iowa


----- Original Message -----
From: "John D. Freund" <realestate@iabar.org>
To: realestate@iabar.org
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2016 2:07:06 PM
Subject: [ISBA RealEstate]  Release of mortgage - not notarized but recorded

What's your opinion on the validity of a mortgage that is not notarized but
was nonetheless recorded?  Thanks.
 

ScalesWatermark

John D. Freund
Freund Law Firm, P.C.
1005 Main Street, Suite 200
Dubuque, IA 52001
Telephone: (563) 587-8050
Facsimile: (888) 626-7317
<http://www.jdfreundlaw.com/> www.jdfreundlaw.com