Land Description in United States
Practical Information
Note: Some of this information was last updated in 1982
Identification of a tract of land contained in a deed (in U.S. law), mortgage (in U.S. law), lease (in U.S. law), or other instrument. To avoid dispute and litigation, land should always be described according to one of the following methods, known as a “record description”: 1. Rectangular survey system
2. Metes and bounds
3. The plat system
Rectangular survey system
The survey divided the public lands into rectangular tracts (see more)
Metes and bounds description
Before the rectangular survey, the land in the area comprising the 13 colonies (18 states) was held under original grants given by the Crown to the colonists. In these states and in Texas, each parcel of land is different in size and shape and is described by metes and bounds. A metes and bounds description is not correlated to any system of meridians and base lines, but each tract of land is described by the lines that constitute its boundaries. A natural landmark, such as a tree or river, or an artificial landmark, such as a fence, stake, railroad, or street, often marks the corners and angles. These marks are known as monuments. A description by courses and distances constitutes part of a metes and bounds description. The direction from the starting point in which the boundary line runs is a course; the length of the line is a distance.
The plat system
Tracts of land described by metes and bounds or the rectangular survey system may be further divided into streets, blocks, and lots. Maps or plans of these divisions are called plats. A plat book is a record maintained showing the location, size, and name of the owners of each plot of real property in a given area.
Style in preparing descriptions
Descriptions of land to be included in an instrument are usually copied from some earlier document or from a survey or an abstract of title (in U.S. law). These should be transcribed exactly. It is permissible, however, and sometimes desirable to write out words that have been abbreviated and to correct capitalization. The following general rules should be observed in preparing descriptions for real estate instruments:
1. Single-space, with a double space between paragraphs.
2. Do not abbreviate Street, Avenue, Road, Boulevard, in the text.
3. Write the words North, Northeast, South, West, Southwest, and the like with initial capitals, but do not capitalize the words northerly, northeasterly, and the like.
4. Capitalize Quarter, Township, Section, and Range, and the name or number of a Prime Meridian.
5. Write courses as follows: “South ten (10) degrees, twenty-three (23) minutes, forty-one (41) seconds West.”
6. Write distances as follows: “One hundred thirty-three and twenty-nine one hundredths (133.29) feet.”
7. When several courses and distances are given in succession, introduced by a phrase such as ” . . . . the following three courses and distances …” each of the courses and distances is written separately, indented and single-spaced, separated one from the other by a double space, and each course and distance is ended with a semicolon. The sentence after the last course and distance is flush with the left-hand margin of the text preceding the itemized courses and distances.
8. It is preferable not to use figures, symbols, and abbreviations, but it is sometimes necessary to use them because of the limited space on a printed form. A description would then be written: “South 10° 23′ 41” West, 30 ft.” In offices with considerable real estate practice, a special key is placed on the typewriter for the symbol of the word degrees; otherwise, the symbol is made by turning the platen back a half space and striking the small o.
Checking land descriptions
An error in the description of land can cause a lot of trouble and even result in a lawsuit. The importance of checking the description cannot be overemphasized. It is easy to make an error in writing that is not always discernible merely from reading the description. The safest method of checking the typographical accuracy of land description is to have one person read aloud to another the original copy, slowly enough to permit him or her to follow the copy carefully.
What is Land Description?
For a meaning of it, read Land Description in the Legal Dictionary here. Browse and search more U.S. and international free legal definitions and legal terms related to Land Description.
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