Legal identifiers. When is a Tract a tract and a Lot a lot.

This is a great topic for discussion.  It is far more than a tomaytoe vs tomahtoe or aunt vs ant preference type of thing.  Stop me from saying, "I wish to allot a lot for a lot."

Interesting read here on these definitions:

https://www.kdsdevelopment.net/articles/tract-vs-parcel-vs-lot-legal-and-tax-implications-explained

Well, that doesn't work in Oregon.  The terms 'lot' and 'parcel' are defined in ORS 92.  A 'lot' is created by a subdivision while a 'parcel' is created by a partition plat.  Given those definitions, I've always used the term 'tract' for not platted properties to avoid any confusion.  Although, plats can have tracts.  A while back, the planners were trying to get the term 'tract' codified as well. Title companies still throw the term parcel all over the place.

What we need is another term to describe an un-platted property.

@gary_g I'm not sure who wrote this but I really love the 'County Assessor Plat Map' image.  It is nice that the Douglas County, Oregon Assessor has his own special stamp.  But wait, is it an assessor's map or a plat, the notes are confusing.  I'm not sure that Ron, the county surveyor, would have approved this one.  Plus, the compass is a nice touch.

Definitely AI trash.

So, once again, the permanently correct answer to a general surveying question is: "It depends."

One of the wonderful things about this site is picking up on the lingo of surveying as it varies from location to location.  It may not be pertinent to my day-to-day situation, but, quite interesting, nonetheless.

An example:  partition plat.  I never hear this term used by my daily realm of contacts.  I believe I understand what it means.  I've done thousands of them but never called them by that name.

Another example:  boundary line adjustment.  We make a survey of the part of something that the current owner is willing to deed to another party.  In the future, the one receiving the deed has two properties and the one giving the deed owns his original property less the described tract.  Subdivision lots still have the same dimensions as platted  but Party B, for example, now owns all of Lot XXX and also owns The South Five Feet of Lot YYY., It's identical to severing a metes and bounds tract from an aliquot part of a section.

Another example:  measurements made in varas in Texas.  Thought of this a few days ago when looking at the creation of the Cimarron Meridian in Oklahoma.  As they measured north from the Initial Point to set the northwest corner of Oklahoma, they ended up 900 plus some number of feet north of an existing monument that had been set some number of years earlier to mark the exact same point: Latitude 37 degrees north and Longitude 103 degrees west,  I chuckled to myself and thought, "They must have measured in varas and screwed up the conversion to feet."  They were then told to accept the earlier survey as being correct.

Well, 

The critique of the one image of a plat I can not speak to since I am in a colonial state.

And as far as being AI generated I would probably agree but it does attempt to provide an answer to defining the three terms in a general sense.

Of course there could be regional difference and legal too, depending on local and state codes.  

In Maryland we see parcel used to define a property on a tax map. And in that case one parcel number could cover many lots. So a subdivision of lots could all be Parcel 388 but then defined more as Lot 1, Lot 2 with individual tax account numbers. 

In deeds that contain multiple descriptions of land, say for a farm. I have seen them called Parcel One, Parcel Two as well as Tract One, Tract Two but rarely Lot One, Lot Two. Lots usually are just used for subdivision lots.

So as @holy-cow so well offered, It depends.

Read through the definitions above in the garyg post.  For my area, the response is: Close, but, no cigar.

The most common term found in NEW descriptions I see is:  A tract of land in........  The parent tract is whatever the existing deed says.  The portion being defined is a tract.  It may be a tiny fraction of an acre or many acres.  What the County Appraiser's Office taxes as a separate item is whatever they wish to call it.  Their definition has nothing to do with our work.  For example:  A rural chunk of dirt that has a valid description but also had the west 33 feet of it subject to a county road right of way will be described by them as:  Beginning 33 feet east of the west line of.........then follow a surveyors description minus 33 feet but may use southeasterly instead of south so many degrees east.  Their description is only useful to them.  It never appears on a deed.

Also, we never describe use the term "parcel number" on a deed.

Different places work differently.  Surveyors working in different jurisdictions need to learn the local lingo.

Just my two cents: The states I work in have no legally defined distinction. So my rule is: unplatted, metes & bounds, etc. = tract... platted (by subdivision plat or auditor's lot plat) = lot. Never "parcel", since that's reserved for GIS in my mind. I think that in the survey world, tract and parcel are probably interchangeable though. To me, it has no impact on the survey's intent. Although sometimes I see the description written as "that certain parcel or tract of land in...". 

Our local Register of Deeds can record almost anything so long as it meets some very basic criteria.  But, the one thing she refuses to record is a deed that has a description that has obviously been copied, word for word and abbreviation for abbreviation, from the tax notice the seller received.  Typically, they stomp off the 40 feet to the Appraiser's Office to demand to know why the County taxes them on something that isn't what their deed says.

I made a reply to this discussion the other day after reading the linked article from a real estate person. The misinformation in that article fired me up. The reply was lost when I hit the send button. I'm over my mad now but I'll not revisit that article.

I do have my own opinion as to what is a lot or track or parcel:

A lot is a named property (Lot #, Tract #, Brown's Farm), identified on a plat recorded in the official real estate records and attested to by the owner. The long name (name, plat name, and recording authority) supply a sufficient and complete description of the property without any other descriptors needed.

A tract is a property that may or may not have a name (123 Maple St., Track K) that may be shown on an unofficial drawing. It is not a complete legal description without additional descriptors and validation by the owner.

A parcel # is a tax assessor's determination of a property for tax records only. It has no authority of ownership or boundary of any property. But it can be used to find records that are controlling for ownership and boundary.

Definitions of Surveying and Associated Terms, ACSM/ASCE, 1978 REV., reprinted 1978.

Lot- 1) A plot of land, generally a subdivision of a city, town, or village block, or some other distinct tract, represented and identified by a recorded plat. 2) United States public land survey: A subdivision of a section which does not conform to an aliquot part, normally described by a lot number, as represented and identified by the approved township plat.

Tract- An expanse; an area, large or small; specifically,  a region, or stretch not definitely bounded, as a wood tract.

Parcel- Generally refers to a piece of land that cannot be designated by a lot number.

Again, it all depends.

Your jurisdiction could define these in code, others have no definition.

Local customs can and do vary throught the US as to how the terms are used and we see that in the responses.