Modern Real Estate Practice in Illinois Chapter 9: Legal Descriptions

© 2008 Dearborn Real Estate Education Describing Land Deeds, mortgages, and trust deeds require a specific (or legally sufficient) description of property to be binding © 2008 Dearborn Real Estate Education

Methods of Describing Real Estate Metes and Bounds Method Original type of legal description introduced in our country Relies on a property’s physical features to determine boundaries and measurements © 2008 Dearborn Real Estate Education

Methods of Describing Real Estate Rectangular (or Government) Survey Established in 1785 Based on an artificially placed group of lines running throughout the country Principal meridians Base lines Townships (tiers and squares) Ranges Sections Correction lines Fractional sections and government lots © 2008 Dearborn Real Estate Education

Lot-and-Block (Recorded Plat) System Uses lot-and-block numbers referred to in a plat map filed in the public records of the county where the land is located Two steps: (1) A large parcel of land is described either by metes-and-bounds or by rectangular survey (2) Once the parcel is surveyed, it is broken into smaller parcels © 2008 Dearborn Real Estate Education

Lot-and-Block (Recorded Plat) System Often used to describe property in subdivisions A lot-and-block system always refers to a prior metes-and-bounds or rectangular survey description Identifiers: Lot-and-block number Name or number of subdivision plat Name of the county and state © 2008 Dearborn Real Estate Education

© 2008 Dearborn Real Estate Education Preparing a Survey Legal descriptions should not be altered or combined without adequate information from a surveyor or title attorney Survey states the property’s legal description Survey Sketch shows the location and dimensions of the parcel Spot Survey when the survey shows the location, size and shape of building on the lot © 2008 Dearborn Real Estate Education

© 2008 Dearborn Real Estate Education Measuring Elevations Condominium laws require that a surveyor prepare a plat map that shows the elevations of floor and ceiling surfaces and the vertical boundaries of each unit with reference to an official datum Subsurface rights are measured below the datum rather than above it © 2008 Dearborn Real Estate Education

© 2008 Dearborn Real Estate Education Measuring Elevations Datum A point, line or surface from which elevations are measured or indicated Benchmarks A permanent reference point for marking datums, established throughout the United States © 2008 Dearborn Real Estate Education