Performing a legal property description search on your own can be difficult, but not impossible. The best place to find a legal description of the property is to find the deed. This is a legal document that proves ownership of a particular piece of land. There are certain steps you can take yourself to find the full legal description of the property. Rebecca K. McDowell is a creditor rights lawyer with a particular focus on bankruptcy. She holds a B.A. in English from Albion College and a J.D. from Wayne State University Law School. She has written legal articles for Nolo and the bankruptcy site. Our Levelset Scout research team is an entire department dedicated to helping clients identify missing or conflicting information about project properties and stakeholders.
Scout data comes from national real estate databases, county appraiser records, internal database level sets from millions of projects, and anywhere you can find! A legal property description is a way to identify the property to ensure complete and legal accuracy. A mailing or street address identifies the location of a building, but streets can change names, land can be divided, and sometimes the address doesn`t even match the actual legal description of the property. So, what is a legal property description? Well, it depends on which part of the country you are in. The U.S. government conducted land surveys a long time ago and used two basic methods to divide and identify land; Metes and Bounds, and many and blocks. The legal description is written on the basis of the results of a professional evaluator. A land surveyor uses special equipment to determine exactly where the property lines are. Real estate in the United States is studied in accordance with the United States. A survey system created by the federal government in the 18th century. For example, a property in XYZ County ABC Subdivision may have a block and lot description similar to the following: “Lot 10, Block 20, ABC Subdivision, as recorded in the XYZ County Flat Book in Book 45, page 350.” The legal description is important because it specifies exactly what the boundaries of a property are. If a dispute arises between landowners about the beginning and end of their properties, a review of the legal description will resolve the dispute. Legal descriptions must be included in the title deed, and errors in the legal description can cause problems for the owner.
Once you have found the real estate search, simply select the criteria (owner, address, parcel number) you want to search for. Typically, you can get the most accurate results by looking up the parcel number (if applicable), as the county also uses this number to describe the property. It may sound easy, but there are two obstacles that can get you in trouble. There are a number of states that require a “description of ownership sufficient for identification.” In these states, a full description of legal ownership is not required, but a simple mailing address is not sufficient. When in doubt, the more information you provide, the better. To facilitate this process, we have developed a map of all states where a legal description of ownership must be included in a mechanic`s declaration of privilege. When filling out the Arizona Quitclaim Deed form, you will encounter the question of whether you need to provide the “LEGAL DESCRIPTION” for your property in Arizona. Sometimes this can be a difficult stumbling block in filling out the form. Let`s say you`re an ordering hardware supplier. You have signed a contract, load the truck and drive to the address given to you by the contractor. When filing your lien, you provided the correct address and managed to get the full legal description of the property.
However, the place where you delivered materials may not be the same place as the property to be improved. Often, applicants describe a drop-off location, construction site trailer, GC office or workshop, or other external location. The district land register contains information about the legal description of a property. Information may be available online, or interested parties may contact the district office to request the information. The legal description can also be found on the deed of ownership. www.claytoncountyga.gov/government/tax-assessor/property-search-informa. If you have read other articles about filing privileges on this website, you may have noticed that we often use the term full description of legal ownership. This is because these descriptions can get quite long, especially Metes and Bound`s descriptions. Forgetting the last measurement or identifying a block, but not the lot it contains, is insufficient as a legal description. The pilot and block method tends to be used in more densely populated areas, these are based on a “flat system”. It was at this time that urban planners divided real estate into general shapes such as rectangles to control growth and provide access to public services. The platform is the largest section of land, which is then divided into blocks, which are then divided into plots.
A typical description of the property and block looks like this: While the public can generally identify a property by its civic address, any documentation about the property or interests in the property should generally include the legal description. The legal description is a formal and detailed description of the location of the property and can be found in the county land records. If a property has been subdivided within a municipality or section and a map or plan of subdivision has been registered, the legal description may also include block and property numbers. The blocks contain several lots, and each lot is a plot with its own deed. The block and lot description include the block number, lot number and county, as well as the name of the subdivision or platform location. The legal description must always be present on the deed of ownership. The owner can examine the deed and find the legal description, either included in the document or attached as separate evidence. The legal description will also appear on all mortgage documents related to the property. If you`re looking for an owner and nothing shows up, it could mean that the person you think is the owner isn`t actually the owner.
This is common in commercial developments as you may think that the person who ordered the work is the owner of the property, when in fact it is a tenant or a management company. For a list of recently saved documents for a property, see the most recently saved history. The same can happen with residential projects, as the lien holder can name a person as the owner, but it is actually a married couple who own the property. If nothing appears in the owner`s search, try the municipality address or parcel number. If all else fails, you can always send a request for information to your tenant, the general contractor, or even the landlord themselves. In some States, the GC is required to provide this information upon request. In other states, a notice of commencement is required for each project. These are either posted on site, made available to those who have sent a pre-notice, or are also available upon request. A Notice of Commencement contains all the ownership and ownership information required to file a mechanic`s lien.
Going through the mechanical privilege process alone can be difficult. There are many requirements, instructions and deadlines that must be met. And that`s not all, it is particularly difficult to gather all the information necessary for advance rulings and mechanical privileges. One thing contractors often struggle with is conducting legal research for property descriptions. In this guide, you`ll find everything you need to know about legal property descriptions and how to search for them. This description indicates which topographic map to refer to, the book and the page number on which it is recorded, P M refers to the block and the property is located on lot 2. Easy, right? Another common mistake is the description of a stretch of land that has been divided. This is especially the case when it comes to new residential developments. If an owner wants to sell some of their land, there are legal procedures, zoning requirements, and other hurdles that must be overcome to properly subdivide the property. You may have correctly identified the largest lot, but to get an accurate legal description of the property, you need to be more specific. Some assumptions are made, and they are that you are at home in front of your computer and you want to speed up this problem as soon as possible without leaving the chair you are sitting in now. If you keep your legal documents at home, you will probably find a paper with the legal description of the property.
Otherwise, and that you have explored every spring, you still have a few options available other than visiting the county town. Well, there are currently about 11 states that specifically require a full legal description of ownership on a mechanic`s declaration of privilege. Failure to properly identify the property could result in costly delays and possible invalidity of the entire claim itself. But even if you don`t work in one of these states, it`s still important to know that. Here you will find information about properties in Hennepin County, including but not limited to taxes due (tax return), current and previous year taxes, assessment values, tax parcel description, and sales information. For a list of recently saved documents for a property, see Recently saved documents. Not finding a property description from a community address is more common than you think.