?ÿI wrote a deed 10 years ago on one of my properties as a security for a loan from a family member. First paragraph has the grantor, grantee, consideration, etc. and a phrase saying "more particularly described in Exhibit 'A'". The next paragraph is titled in bold typeface, "Exhibit A". The content of Exhibit A is basically a forwarding statement. Being that particular deed described by metes and bounds as shown in that certain Warranty Deed dated ____ from GRANTOR to GRANTEE as recorded in Volume and Page of the Deed Records of Local County.
Fast forward to 2017, for various reasons we decided to file the deed (unrecorded deeds are valid in Texas, with certain caveats) a few months ago. yesterday the family member receives a letter from the Appraisal District telling me that the legal description was not included.?ÿ "According to?ÿ (the deed) the legal description is to be included on an Exhibit, however; the exhibit was not filed with the deed." They proceeded to say that the ownership records can not be updated until a corrected deed is filed to include Exhibit A with the County Clerk's office.?ÿ ??ÿ
I've researched as much case law and property code as I care to today and I see nothing that says my referencing the metes and bounds description from another instrument is invalid as to provide location of the property in question. I assume they are just used to seeing Exhibit A as the 2nd or 3rd page and not within the body of the deed, but since I was citing another document, I didn't need 2 pages to fit it all in. I sent a copy of the referenced deed and told them politely as I could to go pound sand.
More than 50% of new deeds are very similar and I believe the number of deeds without descriptions will continue to grow.
Our government agencies that control auctions and resale of properties are at almost 100% of their recordings referring to prior deeds to view the actual description.
Many of those will use tax record identities to describe the property without any reference to where an actual metes and bounds is recorded.
?ÿAnother problem I am seeing is that there have been actual recent surveys of many of those properties that never made it to being recorded.
Another problem I have with most recordings in Texas is that there is no mention of the surveyor unless the surveyor mentions their own name or company within the property description.
Perhaps the the referenced deed document (with the M&B) can be added as additional pages in your Exhibit A.
I see no need to make it a typing exercise and repeat recorded and properly cited information.
Our government agencies that control auctions and resale of properties are at almost 100% of their recordings referring to prior deeds to view the actual description.
I actually purchased the property at a tax sale and the constable recorded the description as a tax tract and cited the 1957 deed thereby causing conflict in my title. I'm probably going to have my sister file suit to try title, her tacked title extends to 2005 IIRC.
The appraisal district has also tried to show my property as being in a platted subdivision where it is clearly metes and bounds. The mapper at the district sent me a copy of the city tax card from the 1950s claiming that was the plat. Nothing on file at the courthouse and all transfers have been by metes and bounds all the way back to the original land patent. I told her she was wrong and then she split my parcels by the constable's deed to be vindictive and effectively doubled my property taxes.?ÿ
It sounds like the recorder is stumbling at the word "Exhibit" and how it is used in the document. They are looking for an attachment probably and it is not there.?ÿ
It seems to me that you could have skipped the "in Exhibit A" and transitioned directly into the document reference. That said, sleep well, it will all be okay in the end.?ÿ
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You didn't pay attentions to the Magic Words?ÿ "As Described In Exhibit A".?ÿ All you have is a reference to another document.
@ Andy Nold
I refuse to survey property sold in Sherrif sales for many reasons.
The County does not guarantee title
A taxed entity is not always everything as conveyed to the prior land owner
Sometimes it is less
Many properties are actually undivided interest in what the buyer thinks he owns
Auction buyers expect cheap surveys for some of the most difficult ones to make?ÿ
Most of the properties have a poor metes and bounds to begin with?ÿ
Neighbors of the property are far from helpful because they had designs on the property and many times have practically moved in or use the property in some way
so on and so on...........
It seems weird to refer to Exhibit A when Exhibit A is on the same page. ?ÿThe Grant Deed says "being more particularly described as follows:
Body of the Description
or
See Exhibit A (which is on a separate sheet).
They do things different in Texas.