Are there any rules or regulations when writing a lease description for a client? We get quite a few request from our clients to do so. I'm sure it may vary from state to state but I was just trying to see if there are any restriction or standards to it. I generally try to write them as I would a boundary description but often times the client doesn't want monuments in the ground or a signed survey, just a distance and direction to each turn in the lease. If we have a PLSS related monument in the area I always make that my POC but sometimes we don't and I have used the intersection of 2 road's CL just to get them close and then tie to a rebar near the site (This has only happened twice and the lease was in the middle of the å±200 acre property). Usually I am just sending my sketch and description to an attorney to record. I feel like I am writing these descriptions well enough for what they will used for but I was just wondering if I am leaving something off. I have just been using my judgment on what makes sense and also how another surveyor could stake it out later on down the road.
Not to my knowledge there are no regulations. I have dealt with a handful of lease properties and all were described with metes and bounds or as shown on surveys.
trojan1stdown, post: 329661, member: 6543 wrote: ....I have just been using my judgment on what makes sense and also how another surveyor could stake it out later on down the road.
Not a bad thing to do. While in Oklahoma lease description preparation is not covered by statutes, there have been a number of times I have prepared surveys of properties that included leased portions. And as all things usually go, some of the lease property has been included in various development and improvement projects. When I'm asked to clearly show whether the "lease" is in this zoning or that zoning, it becomes a surveyor's problem.
The few I've written have all been conveyance quality.
Some juristictions treat lease lots the same as a subdivision.
The concept of describing a parcel of land is the same regardless of what it will be used for and what document it is inserted.
The purpose is to correctly describe the parcel.
Any description can be reused for an unintended purpose.
trojan1stdown, post: 329661, member: 6543 wrote: I generally try to write them as I would a boundary description but often times the client doesn't want monuments in the ground or a signed survey, just a distance and direction to each turn in the lease.
Considering that, maybe take just a little more care. When I do these I make sure that I make clear calls to existing monuments (preferably of record) so that it can be surveyed later (like when there is a dispute).
If someone wants to retype the description and delete your calls it is beyond your control. If the client objects provide a digital copy so they can delete or modify to their liking.
In my early years attaching a sketch was unknown. Later, it became standard practice to sketch it out, include the basics, and all the important dimensions... not the same as a Survey Map, but nearly so. That extra step, with a bit of practice, takes very little effort... and it sure helps with the quality control.
What is described to you as a lease agreement may be lease/purchase agreement. In this case the description will be used to create a new property. May be an attempt to go around the local planning process. Lease agreement is recorded and later there is another document recorded (not a deed) that alters the lease into a sale referencing the original lease description. The Ohio BOR opinion linked below and Ohio Administrative Code 4733-37-06 Descriptions address easement and lease descriptions as well as creation of new parcels. I would tend to treat many lease descriptions as lease/purchase descriptions.
Ohio Board of Registration Opinion | 2009-05-27
Download Board Opinion | 2009-05-27 2-PAGE PDF
Preparation of Legal Descriptions
The requirements in Georgia are covered in the Technical Standards. They are pretty clear and require bearings, distances, full descriptions of monuments found/set, adjoiners. I've had quite a few attorneys choke about adjoiners being given though.
