A deed describes land as 'Lot 14, Block 3 of Sunrise Estates, recorded in Map Book 22, Page 5.' Which method of legal description is this?
Correct Answer
C) Lot and block, referencing a recorded plat
Why this is correct: The correct answer, 'Lot and block, referencing a recorded plat,' is correct because the description cites a specific lot and block within a recorded subdivision (Sunrise Estates), with the detailed survey found on the referenced plat map (Map Book 22, Page 5). Why the other choices are wrong: 'Metes and bounds from a point of beginning' is wrong; that method uses distances and directions from a described starting point. 'Government rectangular survey' is wrong; that system uses townships, ranges, and sections. 'Informal street-address description' is wrong; a street address is not a legally sufficient description for a deed. Exam tip: 'Lot and Block' is the go-to method for platted subdivisions; the deed references the plat map where the details are stored.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
Option C is correct because the description names a lot, a block, a platted subdivision, and the recorded map location, which are exactly the four elements of a lot and block description. The reference to Map Book 22, Page 5 is the incorporation by reference that makes the short description legally sufficient. Nothing in the wording contains bearings, distances, or a point of beginning, and nothing contains township, range, or section. The description is complete as written only because the recorded plat supplies the survey detail.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: Metes and bounds from a point of beginning
Metes and bounds descriptions contain compass bearings and linear distances tracing each course, and they must return to the point of beginning to close. This description contains no directions, no distances, and no monuments, so there is nothing to trace. The underlying plat was of course prepared using metes and bounds surveying, which is what makes this distractor plausible, but the deed's method of description is by reference to that plat.
Option B: Government rectangular survey
The government rectangular survey identifies land by principal meridian, township, range, and section, with aliquot parts such as the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter. None of that vocabulary appears here. Candidates sometimes pick it because platted subdivisions in PLSS states sit inside a section, but the sectional location describes where the subdivision is, not how this parcel is described.
Option D: Informal street-address description
A street address is a postal and municipal convenience that can change and does not uniquely and permanently identify a parcel's boundaries, so it is not a legally sufficient description for conveyance. This description is also not an address; it names a lot, a block, and a recorded map. The option is included to test whether the candidate knows that informal identification and legal description are different things.
Three Signal Words
Each system announces itself with one signal word. Hear 'Lot' and think recorded plat. Hear 'thence' or 'point of beginning' and think metes and bounds. Hear 'Township' or 'Section' and think rectangular survey. One signal word decides the answer before you read the options.
How to use: Scan the quoted description for the signal word first, then match it to the option that names that system. Do not be pulled off by the fact that a plat was originally surveyed using bearings and distances; the question asks how the deed describes the land, not how the surveyor measured it.
Exam Tip
Circle the vocabulary in the quoted description before reading the choices; legal description questions are decided by one or two signal words, not by reasoning about the parcel.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Treating a street address or assessor parcel number as a legal description
- -Calling a plat-referenced description metes and bounds because the plat itself was surveyed that way
- -Assuming the rectangular survey applies simply because the property lies in a PLSS state
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
This question tests recognition of the three legally sufficient systems of land description by their surface features. The lot and block system, also called the recorded plat or recorded map system, works by reference: a surveyor plats a subdivision, the plat is recorded with the county, and every parcel thereafter is identified by its lot number, block number, subdivision name, and the book and page where the map is filed. All the geometry, the bearings, distances, curve data, easements, and street dedications, lives on the recorded map rather than in the deed, which is why a lot and block description can be a single short line. Metes and bounds instead carries the geometry in the text itself, tracing courses from a point of beginning back to closure. The government rectangular survey, also called the public land survey system, locates land by principal meridian and base line, township and range, section, and aliquot parts. The presence of 'Map Book 22, Page 5' is the tell here, because only the recorded plat system points outward to a filed map for its detail.
Background Knowledge
You need to know the three legally sufficient description systems and the vocabulary that signals each: lot, block, and plat book for recorded plat; bearings, distances, and point of beginning for metes and bounds; township, range, and section for the rectangular survey. You should also know that a description is legally sufficient if it identifies one parcel and no other, and that street addresses and tax parcel numbers do not qualify on their own.
Real-World Application
Verifying the subject of a tract-home appraisal, the appraiser pulls Map Book 22, Page 5 from the county recorder to confirm the lot dimensions, the ten-foot utility easement along the rear line, and whether the lot is a corner or interior parcel, all of which affect the site analysis and comparable selection.
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