Florida Real Estate Principles Practices Law 38 th

Florida Real Estate Principles, Practices & Law 38 th Edition Linda L. Crawford Copyright © 2015 Kaplan, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter 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 and includes the legal description © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

Types of Legal Descriptions • Metes-and-bounds • Government survey system • Lot and block description © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

Description by Metes-and-Bounds – Metes refers to distance – Bounds refers to direction – Point of beginning (POB) • Exact 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 are identified with a visible marker called a monument © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

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; N 25°W • Directions are given in degrees, minutes, and seconds © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

Metes-and-Bounds Directions N N 45⁰E W E S 60⁰W S © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

Description by Government Survey • • US System of Rectangular Surveys 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 © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

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 (R 1 E); first strip west of PM is Range 1 West (R 1 W) – Range numbers increase by moving further from PM © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

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 (T 1 N); first strip south of BL is Township 1 South (T 1 S) – Township numbers increase moving further from BL © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

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 • T 2 S, R 3 E is located in second tier of townships south of base line and third range east of principal meridian • © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

Principal Meridian, Baseline, Townships © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

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, T 1 S, R 1 W – Locating sections – Subdividing sections © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

Sections © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

Measures and Terms • Check 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) © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

Measures and Terms Government lot Fractional pieces of land (less than a full quarter section) located along the banks of lakes and streams Quarter section = 160 acres © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

Calculating Size To find the number Example: of acres in a tract take 640 (acres in SW¼, NE¼, SE¼, NW¼ one section) and of Section 12, T 3 S, R 4 E divide by the denominator of each 640 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 = fraction in legal 2. 5 acres description © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

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, T 4 N, R 5 W 640 ÷ 4 ÷ 4 = 10 640 ÷ 2 ÷ 4 = 20 10 + 20 = 30 acres © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

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 © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

Example of Acreage • A lot measures 1/8 mile wide by ¼ mile deep. How many acres are in this lot? • Solution 5280 ÷ 8 = 660 feet 5280 ÷ 4 = 1320 feet 660 x 1320 = 871, 200 sq ft 871, 200 ÷ 43, 560 = 20 acres are in this lot © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

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 © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

Plat Map l Engineer’s plan for land use on map of land l 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 © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.

Tax Maps • Each parcel of land within a tax district is assessed for tax purposes – Each parcel is assigned a Parcel ID (PID) number by county property appraiser – PIDs used to prepare tax maps – Information used to prepare tax roll – PIDs sometimes used to identify a parcel © 2015 Kaplan, Inc.