1.3 Legal Descriptions and Surveys

Why a Street Address Is Not Enough

A mailing address can change and does not define boundaries, so deeds use a legal description — a precise, court-recognized way to identify a parcel. There are three accepted methods, and a single deed may combine them.

All three, properly executed, are legally sufficient. A description that cannot be plotted to a single, closed parcel is void for uncertainty.

Metes and Bounds

A metes-and-bounds description begins at a Point of Beginning (POB) — usually a permanent monument or a tie to a known corner — then recites a series of courses (e.g., "N 45° E, 200 feet") around the perimeter and must return to the POB. If the calls do not return to the POB, the parcel does not close and the description is defective.

Key terms tested:

• Metes = measured distances (feet, chains, rods). A chain = 66 feet; a rod = 16.5 feet.
• Bounds = direction calls, given as bearings relative to north or south (e.g., S 30° W).
• Monument = a fixed physical marker (iron pin, stone, large tree) controlling over a written distance if the two conflict.

Trap: when a recited distance conflicts with a called monument, the monument controls, because a physical marker is presumed more reliable than a number a scrivener may have miscopied.

Rectangular (Government) Survey and the Math

The rectangular system overlays the country with principal meridians (north–south lines) and base lines (east–west lines). From these, range lines run north–south every 6 miles and township lines run east–west every 6 miles, creating a grid of townships.

Memorize these conversions — exams test the arithmetic directly:

• 1 acre = 43,560 square feet
• 1 section = 1 mile × 1 mile = 640 acres
• 1 township = 6 miles × 6 miles = 36 sections = 23,040 acres
• Sections are numbered 1–36 in a boustrophedonic (back-and-forth) pattern, starting in the northeast corner with Section 1.

Worked acreage problem. A parcel is described as "the SE¼ of the NW¼ of Section 14." Multiply the fractions: ¼ × ¼ = 1/16 of the section. Then 640 acres ÷ 16 = 40 acres. Quick rule: when a description chains quarters, multiply the denominators (4 × 4 = 16) and divide 640 by that product.

Lot-and-Block and the Vertical (Datum) Dimension

The lot-and-block (recorded-plat) system describes a parcel by referencing a numbered lot within a numbered block on a subdivision plat recorded in the public records — for example, "Lot 7, Block 3, Sunny Acres, as recorded in Plat Book 12, Page 45." It is the simplest method because the recorded map already carries the precise survey data. Because it relies on a recorded map, it cannot exist until the subdivision plat is approved and recorded.

Legal descriptions also have a vertical dimension. Air rights and condominium units sit above ground and cannot be fixed by horizontal calls alone. Surveyors use:

• A datum — an established elevation reference (e.g., the national geodetic datum based on mean sea level).
• A benchmark — a permanent marker whose exact elevation relative to the datum is known.

Air lots for a condominium unit are described by horizontal boundaries plus upper and lower elevation limits measured from the datum, so a third-floor unit can be conveyed distinctly from the unit below it.

Choosing and Reading the Right System

Not every method fits every parcel. Metes and bounds excels for irregular shapes but is laborious and error-prone, since a single mistyped bearing can break the closure. Rectangular survey is efficient for the large, regular tracts found across most of the country, but it cannot by itself describe an irregular cutout, so deeds often combine a section reference with a metes-and-bounds call for the odd portion. Lot and block is the cleanest for subdivided land because the recorded plat already carries the survey detail — but it cannot exist until that plat is approved and recorded.

A few reading rules examiners reward:

• Read a chained rectangular description right to left: the last fraction names the biggest piece, then each preceding 'quarter of' cuts it down.
• A monument call controls over a conflicting distance, and a distance controls over a stated area.
• Always confirm a metes-and-bounds description closes by returning to the POB; if it does not, the parcel is ambiguous.

Worked check. Convert 2 acres to square feet: 2 × 43,560 = 87,120 sq ft. To price land at $4.00 per square foot, that parcel is worth 87,120 × $4.00 = $348,480 — the kind of two-step conversion the exam pairs with a description.