The Significance of Legal Descriptions
Legal descriptions are a critical component in real estate and many other legal transactions. They delineate the specific boundaries of definable property, removing vagueness and uncertainty and minimizing the opportunity for disputes over what specifically is included in a conveyance or lien. A clear legal description is necessary not just in real estate transactions, but also in mechanics’ liens and judicial sales and foreclosures.
Legal descriptions must include a reference to a fixed and certain point in the vicinity of the property for the description to be adequate. With certain detailed surveying techniques that may include expensive instruments and monitoring equipment, technically demanding physical calculations can produce an equally demanding legal description . A legal description that merely refers to the established geographic coordinates is deficient unless the instrument provides a means for locating the corporeal parcel.
When legally describing land, the parties must consider the availability or ease of access to the referenced points, whether the description is clear and easily understood, and whether it could create uncertainty about the parcel’s dimension. Descriptions created by surveyors should not only include the recommended technical descriptions, but should also clearly describe the relationship of the parcel to that system and how the boundaries of the parcel can be easily found and its dimensions determined.
Essential Components of a Legal Description
The key elements of a legal description are metes and bounds, lot and block, and government surveys. A metes and bounds legal description is a text description of the land based either on a series of distances and angles or a survey of the property. Lot and block legal descriptions are a text description of the land that utilizes a recorded map. The third type of legal description is the government survey which applies primarily to public lands in the western United States. Each of these types of legal descriptions will be discussed below.
Metes and Bounds
The earliest land descriptions, the metes and bounds description, was used by the Romans. Time and usage have made the "bounds" or boundaries the most important aspect of this type of description. When referring to different corners of a property, the description often refers to the "true" or "farthest" corner of the property. A metes and bounds description begins at a specific point called the point of beginning and lists the distances and bearings of the next corner and all corners thereafter returning finally to the original corner or point of beginning.
Lot and Block
The lot and block legal description is generally found in cities or platted areas. A plat or map shows a picture of the subject property and shows each of the lots and blocks of land. To identify the parcel of land, the metes and bounds or distance and direction description of one of the parcels is then referred to as the lot and block description. Example: Lots 8 and 9 of Block 4 of Pinecrest Subdivision of Lots 1 to 13, Inclusive, of Pan Continental Silver Estates, Addition No. 6 to Palm Springs, County of Riverside, State of California, as shown by map on file in Book 4, Pages 119 through 122, inclusive, of Maps, Records of Riverside County, State of California.
Government Surveys
The rectangular survey system of land descriptions was used by the United States Congress under authority of the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Land Act of 1800. The land was divided into townships six miles by six miles. The township is further divided into sections of one mile by one mile. The sections are then divided into four quarters, or 160 acres each. The basic unit of land measurement in the rectangular survey section is the quarter-quarter section. Example: The Northeast Quarter of the Northeast Quarter of Section 1, T1N, R1E, SLM.
Typical References in Legal Descriptions
Common references in legal descriptions are typically the landmarks of a given parcel of land. They can be natural (like riverbanks, roads, or trees) or man-made (like fences or railroads), but the idea is that they were surveyor-measured at one point in time and used to lay out the property boundary lines. (See our post about legal descriptions references and impreciseness for further information.) Common references include: • Bearings (azimuths) with compass designators (for example: N65°32′30″E); • Lines between two points as measured by the surveyor (for example: S37°02′14″W 172.32′); • Angles between the lines and the known relative direction of those lines (for example: NE-Cardinal Latitude; NW-Cardinal Longitude); and • Areas (for example: 6 acres, more or less). When there is an imprecision in the description, courts will rely on the common reference points used in order to ascertain the intention of the party to the land transaction. In other words, when looking at the common references, the courts will attempt to discern what the parties to the land transaction intended by the language in the legal description. Understanding what the legal descriptions must reference is an important first step in preparing to draft a document. Understanding the limits of what the legal descriptions can reference is equally important.
Legal Precedents and Practices
The legal precedents and best practices that guide the formulation of legal descriptions can be traced back through centuries of case law and legislative intent. The purpose of a legal description is to provide a definitive, unambiguous account of the property being conveyed or encumbered. It is the standard against which the boundaries and specific characteristics of a piece of real estate are defined and litigated.
Historically, legal descriptions have evolved from vague references in deeds to more precise methods of identification using boundaries and coordinates. For instance, the Statute of Frauds, enacted in England in 1677, mandated the use of definite calls or boundaries in all conveyances. Over time, various rules and regulations have been promulgated, both legislatively and by judicial precedents, to give effect to this requirement.
Case law has played a particularly critical role in ironing out the details of how legal descriptions are to be constructed. Courts have emphasized the primacy of definite calls, such as natural landmarks or man-made monuments, over vague measurements like distance or area. In cases like Strahm v. Riggert, et al., the court noted:
A conveyance of land is good which applies a definite boundary to the land without determining its quantity, by office of the master in chancery, by government survey, or any other method; but unless there is something in the conveyance to determine , with regard to extrinsic facts, the exact quantity or extent of the land conveyed, he seised and possession become the boundaries if he occupies by metes and bounds laid down in the deed, or otherwise.
As a result, best practices for the formulation of legal descriptions have evolved to emphasize clarity and precision. The American Land Title Association’s (ALTA) standards, which are widely used today, require the use of both drawn and written calls in legal descriptions. It is not unusual, however, for practitioners to ignore the standards either through oversight or negligence. In Wright v. Tripp, et al., the court held:
It was the duty of the court to determine from the evidence where the line between the tract conveyed and the adjoining owner’s land lay. It delegated that authority to two surveyors, who were allowed to proceed upon the basis of a legal description in the deed, to establish that line. The probative value of such a map could only depend upon the accuracy of the description. . . . By drawing such a line of its own as the boundary of the land sold, the trial court, in effect determined what had been conveyed.
Although the mortgage industry is relatively new, it is likely that the standards of legal descriptions will continue to evolve in a way that allows for ultimate certainty in the conveyance or encumbrance of real estate.
Common Mistakes in Legal Descriptions
When preparing a legal description, it is important to reference the correct documents, maps, pages, and sections. In particular, it is important when referencing a governing document, for instance a deed, to get the name of the document correct. Failure to do so can lead to confusion or argument later. Also failure to reference the correct page or section can result in the incorrect description being made part of a property. In listing documents referenced in a legal description, it is important to include those things which need to be referenced. A common mistake is to fail to include a map book or zoning ordinance, or a specific plan. These descriptions provide specific information regarding zoning and local regulations which can be very helpful.
Common errors often seen are referencing maps as books instead of maps, failing to reference the correct page numbers from those books, not referencing those pages in the description, etc. Although these errors seem small they can have large consequences to both legal description preparation as well as the transfer of real property.
Technology in Legal Descriptions
As with many aspects of our society, technology is having a profound impact on the drafting of legal descriptions. Most of us are familiar with Google Maps, Mapquest and similar online mapping services that provide us very detailed and precise distances. It is hard not to think of these tools as advantages for locating properties and confines.
But computers work best when they possess information in an organized way. Computer based programs for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allow maps to be stored in an organized way and compared to one another to determine how accurate a given map is. This might be compared to the old fashioned type of map that you would keep in your glove compartment or in the trunk of your car. Take too long to find your destination, and the map can actually become part of the upholstery. The GPS systems used in the car or attached to your phone offer a much more accurate way to locate yourself or others. But of course, a GPS will not be very helpful in the course of a legal description up to the time of closing. This is because the GPS maps are not fed original survey information. Ordinarily, those maps are not linked with the survey that would give them their own locational attributes.
Recent breakthroughs in how maps on online systems can now be adjusted to reflect important measurements such as a township range or failure to conform with a section or quarter section line, are enabling property owners to gain a greater level of accuracy than ever before . When we consider that for many centuries when assessing land in the field, it was only possible to measure distances to within a few feet when the weather provided perfect conditions, the ability to measure distances to within an inch has incredible ramifications. Such measurements could change the locations of roads and other features, buildings and even entire communities.
In addition to correcting the locations of features on the ground, online mapping technology allows comparisons to be made with choice of coordinate systems. By establishing a common basis for measuring, one can evaluate whether a deed or plat conforms with a particular standard such as the North American Datum. In this way, it is possible to set a standard for survey methods used in a particular region that may be based on the specificity of control surveys that went into the subdivision or beyond. These comparisons can shed light on the rationale behind seemingly minor discrepancies.
This technology is transforming how legal descriptions are determined. As for the future, improvements that allow the correction of online maps could be of great benefit. But for the foreseeable future, we all should have a better sense of the nature of our maps, particularly those that form part of a legal description.