This chapter is about how land is divided up for ownership and how to describe those divisions. This subdivision was developed based on a plat map, and clearly shows how the land has been sectioned off for each home.

Chapter 9Legal Descriptions

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9 Legal Descriptions

• Learning objectives– Identify the three methods used to describe real estate– Describe how a survey is prepared– Explain how to read a rectangular survey description– Distinguish the various units of land measurement

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9 Legal Descriptions

• Definition of a legal description• Land units and measurement• Methods of describing real estate

– Metes-and-bounds– Lot and block– Rectangular (or government) survey

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9 Legal Descriptions

• Georgia Legal Description Concepts– Headrights area– Militia districts– Districts and land lots

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9 Legal Descriptions

Metes-and-bounds• Monuments• Point of beginning (POB)• Compass bearings (calls of direction)• Distance along straight lines

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9 Legal Descriptions

Georgia’s Metes and Bounds description must contain:•State and county•District and land lot•Section or militia district•Point of beginning•Compass directions moving to a point of closure

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9 Legal Descriptions

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9 Legal Descriptions

Lot-and-block or recorded plat map– Concepts

• Plat map• Lot• Block

– Property Identifiers• Lot and block numbers• Name of the subdivision (book and page)• State and county

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9 Legal Descriptions

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9 Legal Descriptions

• Measuring elevations– Air lots– Datum– Benchmarks

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9 Legal Descriptions

• Methods of describing real estate– Rectangular (government) survey

• Not used in Georgia, but used in Alabama and the States west of the Appalachian Mountains

• Based on a comprehensive government survey• Divides state into square grids• Baselines (latitude lines)• Meridians (longitude lines)

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9 Legal Descriptions

• Land units and measurements– Mile– Square mile– Acre