1.3 Legal Descriptions and Surveys

Because land is immobile, every parcel needs a fixed, unambiguous legal description that a surveyor could reproduce on the ground. A street address is fine for the mail carrier but is not a legal description and cannot, by itself, convey title. Three methods are legally accepted.

The Three Methods

Metes and Bounds

This is the oldest system. Metes are distances; bounds are directions or boundaries. A description starts at a point of beginning (POB), traces each boundary by compass direction and distance, and must close by returning to the POB. A typical call reads: "thence N 45 degrees E, 200 feet."

Key exam points:

• The description must always close back at the POB.
• Monuments (a stone, an iron pin, a creek) can fix points, but the modern preference is recorded coordinates.
• It is the method of choice for irregularly shaped parcels that no grid can capture.

Rectangular (Government) Survey and the Math

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

• Township: 6 miles by 6 miles = 36 square miles, containing 36 sections.
• Section: 1 mile by 1 mile = 1 square mile = 640 acres.
• Acre: 43,560 square feet (memorize this).

To size a fractional parcel, multiply the fractions and apply them to 640 acres. Read the description from right to left.

Worked example: Find the acreage of "the NE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 10."

• 640 acres x 1/4 (SW 1/4) = 160 acres
• 160 acres x 1/4 (NE 1/4) = 40 acres

Second example: "the S 1/2 of the NW 1/4" = 640 x 1/4 x 1/2 = 80 acres. Each additional fraction simply multiplies into the running total.

Lot and Block, and What Does NOT Work

The lot and block (recorded plat) system identifies a parcel by its lot number and block within a subdivision map recorded in the county. Example: "Lot 7, Block C, Maple Ridge Subdivision, as recorded in Plat Book 12, Page 45." Once the plat is recorded, the lot reference is a complete legal description.

What is not legally sufficient to convey title:

• A street/mailing address.
• A county tax parcel or assessor's ID number.
• An informal description such as "the old Johnson farm."

These identifiers are convenient but legally inadequate; a deed relying solely on them risks being void for an uncertain description.

Vertical Land Descriptions and Datum

Land descriptions are not only horizontal. Air rights and subsurface (mineral) rights can be sold separately, and condominiums require a vertical reference. A datum is an established point, line, or surface from which elevations (heights and depths) are measured; the U.S. Geological Survey datum is mean sea level. A benchmark is a permanent marker showing elevation relative to the datum.

A condominium unit is described by reference to its recorded plat (declaration) plus its elevation: the airspace between defined floor and ceiling planes. This is why a high-rise unit on the 14th floor needs a datum reference, not just a lot-and-block call.

Measuring Distances, Acres, and a Bearing Worked Example

Memorize the key conversions the exam tests constantly:

• 1 acre = 43,560 sq ft; 1 section = 640 acres; 1 township = 36 sections = 36 sq miles.
• 1 mile = 5,280 ft; a "front foot" is measured along the street frontage.

Bearing example. A metes-and-bounds call reads "N 30 degrees E." This means start facing due north and rotate 30 degrees toward the east. A bearing always names the reference direction first (N or S), the angle, then the rotation direction (E or W), so it never exceeds 90 degrees. A surveyor chains the stated distance along that bearing, then reads the next call. If the final call does not return to the point of beginning, the description fails to close and is defective.

Surveys, Encroachments, and the ALTA Survey

A survey locates a parcel's boundaries on the ground and confirms the legal description closes. It reveals encroachments (a neighbor's fence or eave crossing the line) and easements that affect use. Lenders and title insurers frequently require an ALTA/NSPS survey for commercial transactions because it maps improvements, easements, and boundary conflicts to a national standard. A residential buyer may order a simpler boundary survey or a mortgage location survey to confirm the home sits within its lot lines.

Combining Methods and a Mixed Worked Problem

Legal descriptions can combine systems — a recorded plat may use a metes-and-bounds perimeter to define a subdivision before lots are platted within it. The exam may also stack rectangular-survey fractions with acreage pricing.

Worked problem. A buyer purchases "the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 22" at $3,000 per acre. First find the acreage: 640 acres × 1/4 (NE 1/4) = 160 acres; 160 × 1/4 (SW 1/4) = 40 acres. Then price it: 40 acres × $3,000 = $120,000. If instead the parcel were "the N 1/2 of the SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4," compute 640 × 1/4 × 1/4 × 1/2 = 20 acres, then 20 × $3,000 = $60,000. Read the fractions right to left, multiply them into a running product against 640 acres, and apply the per-acre price last.