Well, it's been my experience that town clerks have a sixth sense about these things (docs missing from their records), but I'd say the actual burden of proof on that falls to the forensic auditors.

VT digitizing records is relatively new compared to some other states. I believe they got funding from the CARES Act to do so.

Go to the card catolog indexes. They're sorted alphabetically by grantor/grantee name. Depending on the town, they'll be current (except for any docs received/submitted for recording 12/25/22 or later).