When real estate is being transferred or mortgaged, an exact legal property description must be included.
When real estate is transferred or mortgaged, a precise legal property description must be supplied.
It will also be listed on the title insurance policy and utilized for a title search.
Read Your Property Deed
The legal description used throughout the property’s chain of title should be the same. It is often located on the paper following a sentence that sounds something like “that particular piece or parcel of land described as follows.”
If you own property, you ought to have a copy of the deed that established your ownership. The seller or real estate agent should have a copy of the deed if you are purchasing real estate.
A county government agency, such as the county clerk or the register of deeds, is often where deeds, mortgages, and other land papers are registered. Every document may be located in a certain volume of the records, often known as a “book” or “liber.”
The county and state will always be mentioned in legal descriptions, although the exact wording will differ.
Townships in Property Descriptions
In the majority of states, townships are frequently mentioned in property descriptions. The federal government created a land survey plan in 1785 that predates this.
This scheme created a number of meridians, or north-south lines, and a number of baselines, or east-west lines. This explains why Base Line Road occasionally appears.
A township is often a square with six miles on each side that is identified by its proximity to the intersection of a meridian and a baseline.
For instance, a township will be referred to as “Township 4 North, Range 2 East” if it is the second township east of the meridian and the fourth township north of the baseline.
The abbreviation for this is “T4N, R2E.” The name of the township may also be mentioned.
There are 36 numbered sections, one mile long on each side, inside each township. Consequently, you can come across a property description that mentions the township and section, like this:
“That portion of Section 35, Town 19 North, Range 13 West, being the Southeast 1/4 of the Northwest 1/4 of Section 35.”
Especially when a piece of land crosses a section or township line, such descriptions can get rather complex.
Including Subdivision Plats
A survey is carried out to determine the dimensions and number of individual lots that will be sold when a housing development is being planned. An example of a subdivision plat is this.
A plat map indicating the position and number of each lot will be provided. Subdivisions may be documented in separate plat records kept by the county.
The property description is shorter for subdivisions with plats. The name of the subdivision and the lot number will appear in the property description used in deeds and other land documents. For instance:
According to the map or plat thereof as recorded in Plat Book 62, Page 9 of the Public Records of Orange County, Florida, Lot 42, Block 3, of North Lakes Subdivision #1.
Using Metes and Bounds
You will encounter more intricate descriptions in cases when the property is not covered by a subdivision plat, particularly if it has an irregular form. These descriptions are made to enable a surveyor to measure and mark the property border.
This is known as a metes and bounds description and is fairly typical in rural settings. It will begin by stating the measurement’s starting position, sometimes referred to as the POB (point of beginning). Information about the township is often included.
For Example:
“Starting at a point designated by a survey marker on the South side of Jackson Road 150 feet East from the corner formed by the intersection of the East boundary of State Highway 39 and the South boundary of Jackson Road; thence East 90 degrees 500 feet, thence South 450 feet, thence West 250 degrees 450 feet, and then directly to the point of beginning; situated in Section 7 in Township Twenty North, Range Eleven East, Perry Township, Delaware County, Indiana.”
A metes and bounds description may be found here. For shipments with unusual shapes, they might be considerably more complicated.
Supplemental Property Information
On a land document, you could see additional identifying information in addition to the legal description. The street address and a property tax identification number are typically included.
The street address, which comprises the street number and name, city or town, state, and zip code, is essentially the property’s postal address.
The local tax assessor’s office often assigns an identifying number to each parcel in order to maintain property tax records. There are other names for this, including “Tax I.D. Number,” “Parcel Number,” and “Folio Number.”
The street address or tax identification number is insufficient descriptions for the purpose of transferring or encumbering the property.
You should be able to grasp legal property descriptions with the assistance of the information above. However, it is typically not required to fully comprehend the specifics of land descriptions for the purposes of purchasing or selling real estate. The deed, mortgage, or another land instrument must accurately describe the property in order to be valid.
To ensure that your document has the proper legal description, carefully study the legal description and compare it to the legal description in another deed.
