Also a quick google search brought me to this virtualrealtygroup, which claims to be a cloud brokerage where you can hang your license.  

TITLE AND CLOSING adjustments:A: Title: The consummation of this transaction is subject to and contingent upon the Seller’s ability to deliver fee simple title which may include, but not be limited to, Seller’s ability to obtain releases from the existing encumbrances or clouds on title, if any.

People make mistakes in their contracts and create situations with clouded title. 

If that's correct, then the closer made a mistake, as ultimately that assessment will cloud title.

2) If I REALLY wanted to do the deal, would recording the contract cloud the title to prevent her from selling to another entity?

This will cloud the title and you will not be able to sell your property for at least a year with a clean title. 

If a title company is involved in the process, they should be able to uncover those clouds, like you said. 

This shouldn't be a big deal since most decent property managers will be using a "channel manager" that allows them to set pricing and communicate across multiple platforms via cloud based software.  

It is advised that you save it to some sort of protected cloud system in case you have an error with your software in the future.

Take into account the recording storage, with cloud recording there might be a monthly fee while onsite recording theres in upfront fee for the hard drives.