Legal Description Of Property

Definition of "Legal Description of Property"

Mary Ann Izzarelli real estate agent

Written by

Mary Ann Izzarellielite badge icon

Ebby Halliday Realtors

The legal description of property is a legal instrument to determine as best as one can, the physical boundaries and characteristics of a plot of land and the housing built on top of it. Its goal is for someone to completely identify a property just by reading the description provided, and it generally comes attached to lease agreements to guide possible disputes in the future. A legal description of property is mostly found in sales contracts, deeds, and mortgages.

Real estate lawyers are usually the ones responsible for the legal description of property, and – when doing one – they typically focus on aspects that don’t change much over the course of time. So, for instance, a street address is not the most common identifier in a legal description of property because street names do change a lot. So, no “the property is in the intersection of Old Guy Street with Brand New Name Street”, as time changes, and even the most popular name can be traded for any number of reasons - not to mention the street can cease to exist due to urban development or even natural disasters.

Some legal descriptions of property cover the quantity of land in acres, but the most common way of going about this document is making a description of the land itself through fractional designations that divide (and describe) the land in sections. This concept of locating or describing land is actually very old and has been around since 1785 when it was established by law under the Articles of Confederation as a way to divide the land in relation to the public land survey system. Its initial purpose was to determine farms and big real estate into “townships”, but as time went on and our society developed and started fragmentizing space within space, it grew more specialized and complex.

It is very important to have a professional do your legal description of property when doing the title transfer of your house because if it’s improperly done, the sale of the home can be marked as invalid due to improper land description.

Real Estate Tip:

You know who can connect you with a trustworthy lawyer to help out not only on the legal description of property but several other documents? A real estate agent! And we have the best ones! Contact a local one now!

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

The time period a real estate investment is held. The return is tied to the time period of the investment. The period is used for income tax purpose to determine whether a profit earned or ...

Percentage of a geographic location's population to the number of persons employable by a basic industry in that area. A basic industry is one that draws income from outside the locality ...

A flexible price that may be adjusted. A resolved situation between two or people or parties through discussions in which common interests are modified. For example, real estate ...

The definition of reversion in real estate is the return of property or assets to their original owner after a prespecified event or occurrence. This real estate term is used primarily in ...

In real estate terms, many consider having corner influence an extra financial advantage when it comes to transactions in most cases. Usually, enjoying a corner influence brings an ...

Arrears is a legal and financial term used to describe payments in regards to their due dates. While the term is more often used to refer to a contractual obligation or liability that was ...

loan that is not secured by a mortgage on a specific property. It is backed only by the borrower's credit rating. Unsecured loan are typically short term. The disadvantages of this kind of ...

Income reporting to the Internal Revenue Service using form 1099 stating income earned. For example, An employing real estate broker uses form 1099 to report commissions earned by a real ...

Home inspector is the name the real estate industry calls the professional responsible for the close and thorough examination of a property. The home inspector usually is called upon ...

Popular Real Estate Questions