The County requires a minimum acreage of 20.00 acres to create a new building site in the rural areas. Land owners often hire attornies to help them define what they are trying to create for the new parcel instead of first going to a land surveyor. Then the deed gets filed and comes to us so we can update the plats.
One came in today that combined two 10-acre tracts out of government lots. The attorney of course is oblivious to what government lots are and described the parcels by aliquot parts. The NE 1/4, W 1/2, N 1/2, NE 1/4 and the NW 1/4, E 1/2, N 1/2, NE 1/4 of Section 4.
Government lots 1 and 2 combined only have 79.03 acres according to the government survey so breaking this down by aliquot parts is not only wrong, you would have less than 20 acres even if this was an interior section without government lots.
What they need to do is get a surveyor out there to first define the government lots and then cut out 10.00 acres from each one with a metes and bounds survey.
Another situation is similar where the same attorney created a legal description based upon aliquot parts and the deed was filed as being 20 acres. The problem is that the supposed 80 acres he is taking the aliquot parts out of only contains 77.28 acres. Plus the road ROW along one side is purchased ROW and doesn't count toward the total 20 acres.
People are paying a lot of money to have attornies write these legal descriptions and file the deeds. These are probably going to both get rejected because they don't meet the 20.00-acre requirement for a new building site.
Start with the surveyor!
> The County requires a minimum acreage of 20.00 acres to create a new building site in the rural areas. Land owners often hire attornies to help them define what they are trying to create for the new parcel instead of first going to a land surveyor. Then the deed gets filed and comes to us so we can update the plats.
>
> One came in today that combined two 10-acre tracts out of government lots. The attorney of course is oblivious to what government lots are and described the parcels by aliquot parts. The NE 1/4, W 1/2, N 1/2, NE 1/4 and the NW 1/4, E 1/2, N 1/2, NE 1/4 of Section 4.
>
> Government lots 1 and 2 combined only have 79.03 acres according to the government survey so breaking this down by aliquot parts is not only wrong, you would have less than 20 acres even if this was an interior section without government lots.
>
> What they need to do is get a surveyor out there to first define the government lots and then cut out 10.00 acres from each one with a metes and bounds survey.
>
>
>
>
> Another situation is similar where the same attorney created a legal description based upon aliquot parts and the deed was filed as being 20 acres. The problem is that the supposed 80 acres he is taking the aliquot parts out of only contains 77.28 acres. Plus the road ROW along one side is purchased ROW and doesn't count toward the total 20 acres.
>
> People are paying a lot of money to have attornies write these legal descriptions and file the deeds. These are probably going to both get rejected because they don't meet the 20.00-acre requirement for a new building site.
>
> Start with the surveyor!
Of the states in which I am licensed, currently, to my understanding, only 2 have a prohibition on L@#$er written descriptions in deeds. These are the 1st two I acquired. Texas and Commifornia.
It is my considered opinion that any L@#$er that writes a description for use in a deed should be Permanently Dis-Barred.
B-)
What gets me
are those to whom I have sent legal descriptions in digital form as well as a hard copy. Did they use the digital form? No. They had their "paralegal" re-type my hard copy (often with errors) and NOT mention the survey from which it taken. I guess they get more billable hours by re-typing.
Andy
What gets me
I have noticed that too. By doing that, they also remove the State required signature as well.
I started saving copies of some of these. I recall once seeing a legal description where the angles were spelled out - i.g. 89 degrees, 15 feet 36 inches.
Another one had multiple calls to a railroad which was repeatedly described as being so far from the centerline of the "railroad tracts" instead of railroad tracks.
What gets me
I have experienced the same. Once they re-type my legal it is now their legal. Mine is the stamped hard copy.
I am currently collecting "attorney tape measures" that have resulted in these legals, but haven't come up with any so far.
Anyone else seen one of these rare articles?
