Legal Description Of Property
Definition of "Legal Description of Property"
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!
Popular Real Estate Terms
An opening that lets the outside air come in or out of a structure. A ventilation fan lets the structure have access to outside air when the switch is in open position. ...
The term collusion may make you think about colluding from the start, and you wouldn’t be far from the truth. The definition of collusion is a secret, non-competitive, and, at times, ...
Choosing alternative real estate investment instruments having different risk-return features. Diversification can be done by regions and types of real estate. Diversification provides a ...
Usual operating service life of property for the purpose it was acquired. The useful life used for depreciation accounting does not necessarily coincide with the actual physical life or any ...
A scholar second mortgage definition would go something like: a loan with a second-priority claim against a property in the event that the borrower defaults. But that’s too stiff, ...
Compilation of all tax maps of a given tax district that are bound together and kept at the local tax office. The tax book is a public record that may be accessed by an individual for ...
I am the person. The person himself/herself. The actual person. ...
An estate which descends to heirs in perpetuum. In an estate of inheritance, the current tenant not only has the right to enjoy the property for life, buy his or her tenancy rights pass to ...
Transactions taking place between individuals who are alive rather than when one of the parties is either dead (e.g., estate) or is contemplating death. For example, a deed may transfer ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.