Legal description Methods Flashcards
s a description of a property that is distinct and precise enough to distinguish it from all other properties. These descriptions can be used by courts to clarify any potential disputes about the property.
Legal Description
is the process and physical product of finding and measuring the boundaries of a piece of real estate, including the location of improvements, encroachments, and easements. (Improvements are permanent, human-made additions to the property.)
Surveys
is a land survey process in which a licensed land surveyor starts at a readily identifiable point of beginning and defines the boundaries of a property in terms of distances and compass directions, finally returning to the point of beginning.
Metes and Bounds
were used as points of beginning or markers for the metes and bounds system. Monuments are fixed landmarks, either natural or human-made. Natural monuments can include things like streams, large boulders, or trees. Natural monuments were very commonly used in the early days of surveying. 🌳
Monuments
permanent markers of known location and elevation as established by a government survey team.
Benchmarks
It’s a type of legal description that identifies a piece of platted property by referring to the section, lot, and block numbers in a subdivision. This is the most modern type of legal description. It’s well suited for cities and suburban communities.
Lot and block
Plat: a drawing of a development used in the block and lot method (Keep in mind, this is called a “plat” and not a plot. A plot is what you get buried in.)
Parcel: a part or portion of land; often used to identify a specific lot within a larger tract of property
Lot: individual piece of land measured and defined by the metes and bounds system
Block: a collection of lots
Tract: the totality of the property represented on a plat
Vocabulary
may also be called the government survey system or public land survey system. It was developed by the federal government to improve, simplify, and standardize surveying. Physical monuments and boundary descriptions aren’t required. The rectangular survey system method depends on a grid using the longitude and latitude system of mapping. Today, more land in the United States is defined by the rectangular survey system than by any other method.
Rectangular Survey System
run north to south. They segment the globe along Earth’s poles
Meridians (longitude lines)
, run east to west, parallel to the equator.
Parallels (Latitude)
run parallel to the principal meridian, running north and south. Range lines are spaced six miles apart from one another. The area of land between two consecutive range lines are called ranges, which are six miles wide.
Ranges
Township lines run west and east, parallel to the baseline and, like range lines, are six miles apart from one other. The areas of land that township lines create are called tiers, which are – you guessed it – six miles wide.
Like ranges to meridians, tiers are numbered by their positions either north or south of the baseline.
Tiers
Range columns run parallel to meridians and create six-mile ranges, and township lines run parallel to baselines and create six-mile tiers. So what happens when a six-mile range intersects with a six-mile tier? Well, you get an area of 36 square miles called a township, my friend.
This is because:
6 miles x 6 miles = 36 square miles
Range Columns & Township Lines
Township rows are numbered consecutively, north and south of a baseline. For the first tier of townships lying north of a baseline, the entire row is “Township 1 North”, or T1N. All those comprising the first row south of the baseline are labeled “Township 1 South” or T1S. Range columns are labeled much the same way.
Township Numbering
Each 36-square-mile township can be divided into 36 individual square mile sections (yes, that’s the official term), beginning in the upper right-hand corner. Each square mile contains 640 acres, and every acre has 43,560 sq. ft.
Numbers on a township map represent the different sections. They begin in the top right corner. From there, numbering goes from right to left on the top row, down to the second row, where numbering goes from left to right. On the third row, numbers move from right to left, alternating until every section is numbered. This pattern is called a “snaking” pattern, an alternative to traditional left-to-right numbering.
Sections of a Township
Dividing Sections
1 township = 36 sections
1 section = 640 acres (a square mile)
1 acre = 43,560 sq. ft.
Important measurements
Principal meridians: A true meridian running through an initial point, which, together with the baseline, forms the highest level framework for all rectangular surveys in a given area
Baselines: A parallel of latitude, referenced to and established from a designated initial point, upon which all rectangular surveys in a defined area are based
Ranges: A measure of the distance east or west from a referenced principal meridian, in units of six miles
Tiers: A measure of the distance north and south from a referenced principal baseline, in units of six miles
Sections: Approximately one-square-mile blocks of land (640 acres); there are 36 sections in a survey township
Townships: Also known as a survey township; a square parcel of land of 36 square miles, or a measure of the distance north or south from a referenced baseline, in units of six miles
Range columns run parallel to meridians, and township lines run parallel to baselines, meaning east to west. They intersect to create 36-square-mile areas called townships.
Also recall that each 36-square-mile township is then divided into 36 individual square mile areas (or 640 acre areas) called sections.
Sections can then be divided into halves (320 acres) and quarters (160 acres). Those halves and quarters can then be halved and quartered again.
Review
a designated base reference point to elevation used by surveyors to determine the elevations of land or property in an area
Datum
the small parcels of land or column lots that structurally support air lots
Caissons
legal description
a description of a property that is distinct and precise enough to distinguish it from all other properties
survey
the process and physical product of finding and measuring the boundaries of a piece of real estate, including the location of improvements, encroachments, and easements
metes and bounds
a land survey process in which a licensed land surveyor starts at a readily identifiable point of beginning and defines the boundaries of a property in terms of distances and compass directions, finally returning to the point of beginning
point of beginning (POB)
The starting point for a metes and bounds legal description
monument
a fixed landmark, whether natural or human-made, used as a reference point in a metes and bounds legal description
benchmark
permanent marker of known location and elevation above sea level as established by a government survey team (such as the USGS)
block and lot system
a system of legal land description that identifies a piece of platted property by referring to the section, lot, and block numbers in a subdivision; aka recorded plat method
plat
a map indicating the locations and dimensions of lots in a lot and block system
rectangular survey system
a system of legal land description that uses the global lines of longitude and latitude to create a surveyed grid of meridians, base lines, townships, and ranges to describe a piece of land; aka the government survey system
meridian
an imaginary line of longitude used to identify a certain area of the earth’s surface along a north-south direction
parallel
a line of latitude
principal meridian
a meridian used in reference to a baseline to identify ranges, tiers, and townships in the rectangular survey method of land description
baseline
a parallel used in reference to a meridian to identify ranges, tiers, and townships in the rectangular survey method of land description
range
the area of land between two consecutive range lines
tier
the area of land between two consecutive baselines
township
a square area of land with sides of six miles each, consisting of 36 square-mile sections and identified in reference to a meridian and baseline in the rectangular survey system
section
one of 36 equal square miles in a township
acre
a measurement of land equal to 43,560 square feet
datum
a designated base reference point to elevation used by surveyors to determine the elevations of land or property in an area
air lots
areas above parcels of land that are defined by elevation boundaries
caissons
the small parcels of land or column lots that structurally support air lots
Key Concepts & Principles
Here are the concepts and principles you’ll want to master from this chapter.
Metes and Bounds
Metes and bounds is a land survey process in which a licensed land surveyor starts at a readily identifiable point of beginning and defines the boundaries of a property in terms of distances and compass directions, finally returning to the point of beginning.
Points of beginning can take the form of a monument or a (more precise) benchmark.
Lot and Block System
A lot and block description identifies a piece of platted property by referring to the section, lot, and block numbers in a subdivision. This modern type of legal description is well suited for cities and suburban communities.
Rectangular Survey System
The rectangular survey system describes properties’ locations on a grid using the longitude and latitude system of mapping. Land is broken down into smaller and smaller pieces of uniform size.
Review this image to see how the various units of land measurement relate to each other.
End of chapter summary
