Florida Real Estate Principles, Practices & Law 39th Edition Unit 10: Legal Descriptions

Purposes of Legal Descriptions Used to describe property in a way that uniquely identifies it from any other parcel Survey is a drawing of a parcel showing its boundary lines

Types of Legal Descriptions Metes-and-bounds Government survey system Lot and block description

Description by Metes-and-Bounds Oldest type of legal description Metes refers to distance Bounds refers to direction Point of beginning (POB) Exact reference starting point Starting at POB, first boundary is determined from the legal description that indicates the direction and the distance to the first corner of parcel, and so on Corners of the parcel and POB are identified with a fixed marker called a monument

Metes-and-Bounds Begin with either north or south followed by a number of degrees, up to 90 degrees Direction that follows number of degrees indicates whether direction is east or west of due north or south; N45°E Directions are given in degrees, minutes, and seconds; N45⁰ 25’ 20”E

Description by Government Survey Government survey system Based on grid system Used in Florida but not the original 13 states Beginning reference is intersection of north/south line principal meridian and east/west line base line 36 Principal meridians and base lines Tallahassee Principal Meridian and Base Line

Range Vertical (north/south) range lines parallel to the principal meridian (PM) Every six miles Resulting six-mile-wide vertical (north/south) strip called range Numbered beginning at PM First vertical strip east of PM is Range 1 East (R1E); first strip west of PM is Range 1 West (R1W) Range numbers increase by moving further from PM

Township (Tier) Horizontal (east/west) township lines every six miles parallel to the base line (BL) Series of lines six miles apart on either side of BL Six-mile-wide horizontal east-west strip called tier or township Numbered beginning at BL First strip north of BL is Township 1 North (T1N); first strip south of BL is Township 1 South (T1S) Township numbers increase moving further from BL

Townships Grid pattern formed by intersection of range lines and township lines Series of squares six miles square called townships Township contains 36 square miles (6 miles on each side) Identified by the township tier and range T2S, R3E is located in second tier of townships south of base line and third range east of principal meridian

Principal Meridian, Baseline, Townships

Sections Each township contains 36 sections Section is one square mile or 640 acres Numbered in an S-pattern beginning in NE (upper right) corner with section 1 Section, township and range Section 36, T1S, R1W Locating sections Subdividing sections

Sections

Measures and Terms Check Township Section Square 24 miles on each side created by intersecting guide meridians and correction lines Township Square 6 miles on each side containing 36 square miles (36 sections); also east-west strip of land north and south of a base line Section Square 1 mile on each side (1 mile square) containing 1 square mile (640 acres)

Measures and Terms Government lot Quarter section = 160 acres Fractional pieces of land (less than a full quarter section) located along the banks of lakes and streams Quarter section = 160 acres

Calculating Size To find the number of acres in a tract take 640 (acres in one section) and divide by the denominator of each fraction in legal description Example: SW¼, NE¼, SE¼, NW¼ of Section 12, T3S, R4E 640 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 = 2.5 acres

And in a Legal Description If and is in middle of description calculate acres on either side of and separately then add to find total acres Example: SE¼ of the NW¼ of the NE¼ and N½ of the NW¼ of the NE¼ of Sec 21, T4N, R5W 640 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 = 10 640 ÷ 2 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 = 20 10 + 20 = 30 acres

Additional Survey Measures Acre 43,560 square feet Benchmark Permanent reference mark affixed to an iron post or brass marker used to establish elevations Mile 5,280 feet in length

Description by Lot and Block Numbers Used only where plat maps have been recorded Platted subdivision divided into large areas called blocks Blocks divided into lots Lots are numbered Blocks are either numbered or lettered

Plat Map Engineer’s plan for land use on map of land Provides for dedication of streets, parks, and school sites Shows dimensions for lots, streets, planned improvements Recorded under subdivision name by book and page number

Tax Maps Each parcel of land within a tax district is assessed for tax purposes Each parcel is assigned a Parcel ID (PID) or assessor’s parcel number PIDs used to prepare tax maps Information used to prepare tax roll PIDs sometimes used to identify a parcel