CH 3-1: Legal Descriptions

Identifies the boundaries and location of a parcel of land, clearly distinguishing it from any other parcel of land. It is a required element in a deed and is often found in mortgages, title insurance policies, appraisals, and other real estate documents.

Legal Description

Name the things a legal description provides.

1. Remains accurate and consistent over time

2. Facilitates the transfer of ownership

3. Prevents boundary disputes and future title problems.

This is a complex legal description that was imported from England and most typically used in states along the Eastern seaboard. A legal description that starts at an easily identifiable point of beginning (POB), then describes the property's boundaries in terms of courses (compass directions) and distances, ultimately returning to the point of beginning.

Metes and Bounds

This system is used for platted property, which is land that has been subdivided for development.

Lot and Block

Divides large tracts of land into a grid using a series of meridians and baselines.

The rectangular survey system || Rectangular Government survey system

Probably the most common type of legal description you will encounter in your real estate practice. A type of legal description used for platted property. The description states only the property's lot number and block number in a particular subdivision.

Lot and Block System

The six-mile distance between lines that run north and south parallel to the principal meridians in the rectangular survey system.

Range

Part of a township, one-mile by one-mile square. Used for the rectangular survey system. one equals 640 acres, 36 _ equal one township.

Section

The formal process of locating and measuring the boundaries of a property and identifying the improvements, encroachments, and easements that are associated with that parcel.

Survey

A square division of land, six miles by six miles, in the rectangular survey system. One contains 36 sections.

Township

East-west lines that run parallel to baselines in the rectangular survey system.

Township Line

In the metes and bounds system, the description always ends at the:

Point of beginning

Jane consults a plat map to confirm the legal description for a piece of property she is preparing to purchase. What type of legal description is being used for this property?

Lot and block

Which statement about legal descriptions is FALSE?

A legal description describes the land and its improvements.

A detailed survey map of a subdivision is called a:

Plat map

In the rectangular survey system, which of these does NOT run north and south?

Baselines

In the rectangular survey system, a township labeled T4N, R1E would be found:

Four tiers north of a baseline and one range east of a principal meridian.

TRUE or FALSE: Legal descriptions identify the boundaries and improvements on a parcel of land.

FALSE: A legal description identifies the location, the size, and the boundaries of a parcel of land, but it does not describe any improvements. A survey describes the boundaries and improvements as well as any encroachments or easements on the land.

TRUE or FALSE: A valid deed must include a legal description.

TRUE: A deed is the document that transfers ownership of real property. A legal description is a required element because it identifies the specific property being conveyed separate from any other property. Remember that legal descriptions are typically created by a surveyor. A real estate license does not qualify you to perform this task.

TRUE or FALSE: The metes and bounds system describes the perimeter of the property.

TRUE: As the surveyor travels from the point of beginning, around the outside of the parcel back to the POB, he is describing the parcel's perimeter.

TRUE or FALSE: When drawing the shape of a lot using the metes and bounds system, a surveyor typically moves counterclockwise to the point of beginning.

FALSE: A surveyor starts at the point of beginning, then generally moves clockwise around each side of the parcel until returning to the point of beginning.

TRUE or FALSE: A range is a strip of land running east and west.

FALSE: Township tiers run east and west. Ranges run north and south

TRUE or FALSE: Each section in the government survey system is one-mile by one-mile square.

TRUE: Each section is one square mile, or one mile by one mile

TRUE or FALSE: In the government survey system, correction lines are established at six-mile intervals.

FALSE: Correction lines are established at 24-mile intervals, or every fourth township line.

TRUE or FALSE: When numbering the sections of a township, Section 1 is always in the northeast corner.

TRUE: Start in the upper right, move left, down then right, down then left, and so on until you reach 36 in the lower right, or southeast corner.

A township labeled T2S, R3W would be found

2 tiers south of a baseline and 3 ranges west of a principal meridian.

How many acres are in each section?

640 acres

TRUE or FALSE: The east half of a section contains 320 acres.

TRUE: One section is 640 acres, so a half-section is 320 acres, regardless of whether it's the north, south, east, or west half. So a quarter section is 160 acres. Again, its location within the section is irrelevant.

How many acres are there in the E 1/2 of the NW 1/4 of Section 23?

80 acres

How many acres are there in the NE 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 16?

10 acres

A legal description reads as follows: "The NW 1/4 of Section 2 and the W 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of Section 35." How many acres is this?

240 acres

A parcel of land in a parcel in a subdivision.

Lot

Main east-west line designated and named throughout the country for use with the rectangular survey system

Baseline

Any natural or artificial (i.e., human-made) marker used to establish lines and boundaries in a metes and bounds survey.

Monument

Land that has been subdivided into blocks and lots.

Platted Property

A line that runs parallel to a principal meridian, marking the land into six-mile strips known as ranges. They are numbered east or west of a principal meridian in the rectangular survey system.

Range Line

The six-mile distance between township lines in the rectangular survey system.

Township Tier