1.3 Legal Descriptions and Surveys

Why Legal Descriptions Exist

A street address is not a legal description. A legal description identifies land so precisely that a surveyor could locate its exact boundaries and no other parcel could match. Deeds, mortgages, and contracts rely on them. There are three accepted systems in the U.S.

1. Metes and bounds — the oldest method, using distances (metes) and directions/boundaries (bounds).
2. Rectangular (government) survey — a grid of principal meridians and base lines dividing land into townships and sections.
3. Lot and block (recorded plat) — references a lot and block number on a subdivision map recorded in the county — the most common method for modern residential lots.

Metes and Bounds

A metes-and-bounds description starts at a point of beginning (POB), follows a series of courses (each a direction and distance), and must return to the POB to enclose the parcel. If it does not close, the description is defective.

Monuments — physical or natural markers like an iron pin, a road, or a stream — may anchor the description. When a monument conflicts with a stated distance, monuments generally control over measurements because they are visible and fixed.

Trap: The exam may give a description that never returns to the POB and ask what is wrong. The answer is that the boundary does not close. Always confirm the final call ends at the point of beginning.

Rectangular (Government) Survey

The rectangular survey divides land using principal meridians (north-south) and base lines (east-west). The grid produces these key units:

Sections within a township are numbered 1–36 in a boustrophedonic (snake) pattern: Section 1 is the northeast corner, numbering runs west to 6, drops down, then runs east, alternating each row, ending with Section 36 in the southeast corner.

Worked Acreage Math

To find acres in a fractional section, multiply the fractions and then multiply by 640.

Example 1: The NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of a section. Multiply the fractions: 1/4 × 1/4 = 1/16. Acres = 1/16 × 640 = 40 acres.

Example 2: The S 1/2 of the NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4. Fractions: 1/2 × 1/4 × 1/4 = 1/32. Acres = 1/32 × 640 = 20 acres.

Example 3 (square feet): A 40-acre tract equals 40 × 43,560 = 1,742,400 sq ft.

Speed tip: Read fractional descriptions from right to left — the rightmost fraction is the biggest piece, and each fraction to its left subdivides it further. Count commas: more “of the” phrases means a smaller parcel.

Lot-and-Block, Datum, and Air Lots

The lot-and-block (recorded plat) system describes a parcel by its lot number, block number, and the name and recording reference of the subdivision plat filed in the county register of deeds. It is the dominant method for modern residential subdivisions because the plat already fixes dimensions and easements, so the deed needs only a short reference such as "Lot 14, Block C, Oakwood Subdivision, recorded in Plat Book 32, Page 117."

Vertical interests require a datum — an established reference plane (the U.S. Geological Survey datum is mean sea level at New York Harbor) plus a benchmark, a permanent marker showing elevation. Condominium units and air rights are described as air lots, measured as elevations above and below the datum. This is how a developer can sell the right to build above an existing structure or how a subway tunnel below a parcel is described.

More Worked Survey Math and Pitfalls

Acreage practice: The NE 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of a section. Multiply: 1/4 × 1/4 × 1/4 = 1/64. Acres = 640 ÷ 64 = 10 acres. Cost layer: at $3,500 per acre that tract is worth 10 × $3,500 = $35,000.

Frontage and square footage: A rectangular lot is 80 ft of road frontage by 150 ft deep. Area = 80 × 150 = 12,000 sq ft, or 12,000 ÷ 43,560 = 0.2755 acre. At $18 per sq ft the land is worth 12,000 × $18 = $216,000.

Pitfalls: (1) A metes-and-bounds description must close by returning to the point of beginning; if it does not, it is defective. (2) When a monument conflicts with a stated distance, the monument controls. (3) The order of priority for conflicting calls is generally natural monuments, then artificial monuments, then courses (directions), then distances, then area — area is the least reliable element and is given the lowest priority.

Choosing a System and Reading a Township Grid

The three systems are not interchangeable by region. Metes and bounds dominates the original 13 colonies and other areas surveyed before the federal grid; rectangular (government) survey covers most states admitted later (the Midwest and West); lot and block is layered on top of either system once land is subdivided and a plat is recorded. A single deed can combine methods — a metes-and-bounds tract later subdivided and re-described by lot and block.

Reading a section: Within a township, recall the snake numbering — Section 1 sits in the northeast corner, 6 in the northwest, and 36 in the southeast. A correction for the earth's curvature is built in through guide meridians and correction lines, which is why some sections are not a perfect 640 acres. On the exam, if a fractional description yields an odd acreage, suspect a fractional or government-lot section along a township's north or west tier.