If the property is not subject to a subdivision area, and especially if it has an irregular shape, more complex descriptions will be posted, allowing a surveyor to measure and mark the boundaries of the property. To transfer ownership of immovable property, the deed must contain a clear legal description of the property that identifies it. In order to have a valid mortgage on a property, the mortgage must also contain this legal description. Our neighbor has about 4 different legal descriptions of deeds filed at the county clerk`s office. We believe the legal description has been changed so that they can adopt an easement that could be used for themselves as a personal driveway. Legal descriptions began to change in 2001 regarding waivers and changed again to a final warranty deed that surfaced in 2003. The exact legal descriptions date back to 1994. So many documents have been filed in the court clerk`s office over the years, now they have buried the old documents. How do we know who changed the legal descriptions and whether we should actually have access to the easement? All their ownership documents were filed through two tile companies.
Why would a title company accept so many different legal descriptions for a property? All deeds in the chain of ownership of the property must have an identical legal description. It is usually found on the document after a sentence similar to: « the defined parcel or parcel of land described as follows ». Legal descriptions always state the county and state in which the property is located. There are 3 independent methods that can be used to determine the exact location and boundaries of a property: Sometimes landowners confuse legal descriptions with other descriptions of the property, such as its street address or description in property tax records. In this section, we will try to decipher how to read the legal description of the property using the grid system adopted by the United States in 1785. A professional surveyor creates legal descriptions of real estate. Hi Raymond, you should always talk to a lawyer about legal documents, but I generally think it`s a good idea to copy a legal description as accurately as possible. The legal description appears in several places in real estate documents, such as purchase agreements, mortgage documents, deeds, title information, etc. It is used to track a property`s history to ensure a clear title, and lenders need it to make sure they have the right collateral for the loan. Wherever it appears, it must be carefully checked to confirm that the description is correct. The legal description of a property is one of the most important pieces of information involved in a land transaction. Monuments are visible markers, landmarks refer to height, and POB means that the measurement of meters and boundaries begins and ends in the same place.
The POB monument is often an iron pin or concrete column fixed by an engineer or surveyor. The POB can start at the monument itself or at some distance and direction from the monument. In any case, all descriptions must return to the POB and close the geometric description to be valid. Some of the terminology used with the Metes and Bounds description includes monuments, landmarks and starting point (POB). There are different types of legal descriptions (see below), but these distinctions are often not relevant to the document preparation process. Knowing the different types of legal descriptions is not as important as knowing where to find the legal description of the specific asset being transferred. A legal property description is a way to define or locate the location of a particular parcel of land. A mailing address also identifies a physical location, but not in the same way that a legal description defines it.
In fact, sometimes they don`t even go together. In addition to parcels and blocks, a flat map usually includes details such as roads, sections, monuments, and public easements. It could also include floodplains, elevations and alliances. Each description contains information about the subdivision phase, block (if any) and single lot referenced by the book and the page where the information is located. An example would be Lot 2 of Block 3 of the Mountain River Subdivision Plaque, as recorded in Map Book 47, Page 5 of the Office of the Public Registrar. Descriptions of Métis and markers were used in the original 13 settlements before the rectangular survey system was developed. A description of bounds and boundaries uses boundary lengths and angles that begin at the starting point (POB). A mete is a dividing line and the boundaries are the area surrounded by the metes – hence the name. Starting with the POB, it describes the length of each boundary and the angle it forms with the previous boundary. This continues to the end point (POE), which is identical to the starting point, because all properties must have closed boundaries. 1) Provide at least two examples of legal description of land.
The other legal description system is the lot and block system (also known as the registered flat system), which refers to specific parcels identified by a lot number or letter and the block or subdivision platform in which the lot is located. The block itself is located using the metes-and-bounds system or the rectangular surveying system. To identify a particular parcel, the lot and block system shows the lot and block number, the name or number of the subdivision platform, and the name of the county and state. In addition to describing the lines of the parcel and their angles, the survey can confirm the dimensions and location of the house, garages, sheds or other buildings on the parcel and their orientation to the north. Easements, setbacks or interventions are described in the survey. Landscaping, including paved or grassy areas, could also be part of the description. Measures are a necessary part of any legal description. The old measurements were based on chains and rods because surveyors used them to measure distances.