1.3 Legal Descriptions and Surveys

Legal Descriptions and Surveys

A street address is fine for mail, but it is not a legal description. Because land is immobile and every parcel is unique, the law requires a description precise enough to identify exactly one parcel. There are three accepted methods.

1. Metes and Bounds

The oldest method, used in the original 13 colonies and where land is irregular. It describes the boundary by distances (metes) and directions/compass bearings (bounds), starting and ending at the point of beginning (POB).

Key rules:

• The description must close — it always returns to the POB. A description that does not return is defective and ambiguous.
• It uses monuments (a stone, an iron pin, a creek) and bearings such as "N 45° E, 200 feet."
• The POB should be tied to a permanent reference, ideally a monument.

Trap: If a metes-and-bounds description fails to return to the POB, it is invalid — regardless of how detailed the bearings are.

2. Rectangular (Government) Survey System

Also called the PLSS. It uses principal meridians (north-south lines) and base lines (east-west lines) to create a grid. The math is heavily tested:

Sections within a township are numbered 1 to 36 in a boustrophedonic (serpentine) pattern: Section 1 is in the northeast corner, numbering runs west to 6, drops down, then runs east, and so on, ending at Section 36 in the southeast corner.

• Township lines run east-west and form horizontal tiers.
• Range lines run north-south and form vertical columns.
• Correction lines and guide meridians adjust for the curvature of the earth (because meridians converge toward the poles).

Worked Acreage Math

Describing a fraction of a section is the most common rectangular-survey question. Read the description from right to left, multiplying the fractions, then multiply by 640.

Example 1: How many acres are in the NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of a section?

• (1/4) × (1/4) = 1/16 of a section
• 1/16 × 640 acres = 40 acres

Example 2: How many acres in the S 1/2 of the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4?

• (1/2) × (1/4) × (1/4) = 1/32
• 1/32 × 640 = 20 acres

Example 3 (price per acre): A 40-acre parcel sells for $260,000.

• $260,000 ÷ 40 = $6,500 per acre

Example 4 (square feet to acres): A lot is 217,800 square feet.

• 217,800 ÷ 43,560 = 5 acres

3. Lot and Block (Recorded Plat / Subdivision) System

Used in subdivided urban and suburban areas. A surveyor records a plat map with the county; each parcel is identified by its lot number, block number, subdivision name, and the recording reference (book and page). It is the shortest and most common description for residential city lots.

Vertical Land Description: Datum and Benchmarks

To describe air lots (the space above a condominium unit's floor) or subsurface rights, surveyors measure elevation from a datum — an established reference point for elevation (the U.S. uses the National Geodetic Vertical Datum). A benchmark is a permanent marker fixing a known elevation that surveyors use to measure up or down. Condominium legal descriptions combine a horizontal description with elevation references to define a three-dimensional unit.

The Role of the Survey

A survey is performed by a licensed surveyor to locate the boundaries on the ground and verify the legal description. A survey reveals what a description on paper cannot:

Trap: A survey is not the same as a legal description; it locates and confirms the description. And it differs from an appraisal (value) and a home inspection (condition).

Choosing the Right Method

The three systems are not interchangeable; each fits a setting:

A single description can combine methods. A developer may use metes and bounds to describe the outer boundary of a tract, record a subdivision plat, and then sell individual homes by lot and block. The exam may show a hybrid; identify each component.

One More Acreage Drill

Subdividing also drives price math. Suppose a developer buys the SW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of a section for $400,000 and plans quarter-acre lots.

• Acreage = (1/4) × (1/4) × 640 = 40 acres
• Usable lots after 25% for roads/open space = 40 × 0.75 = 30 acres ÷ 0.25 acre/lot = 120 lots
• Raw land cost per lot = $400,000 ÷ 120 = $3,333.33 per lot

Why Precision Matters

Every one of these systems exists because of a single physical characteristic from Section 1.2: immobility. Land cannot move, so the law of the situs governs and the description must point to exactly one place on earth. A vague description ("the back forty") is unenforceable. An error of a single bearing or a missing recording reference can cloud title for decades, which is why surveyors, title companies, and recorders all rely on the same precise framework. On the exam, treat any description that is ambiguous, fails to close, or omits its recording reference as defective.