Legal Property Descriptions: Metes and Bounds System

Legal Description of Real Estate: Metes and Bounds System

• Legal Description: A description that accurately defines the boundaries of a property and is legally acceptable.
• Metes and Bounds System: A method for identifying (describing) property with respect to its boundaries, distances, and angles from a specific point of beginning. It provides instructions and measurements that a surveyor can follow to trace the property’s boundaries.

A. Basic Elements in a Metes and Bounds Description:

1. Reference Points:

   • Fixed locations that can be identified and used as a starting point for measurements.
   • Examples: Permanent survey markers embedded in the ground, artificial markers like metal stakes, or natural features like trees or rocks.
   • Natural features are called “Natural monuments,” while man-made landmarks are called “Artificial markers.”
   • All metes and bounds descriptions begin with a reference point that locates the property in relation to adjacent surveys❓ in the area.
   • This initial reference point is called the Point of Beginning (POB).
   • Bounds describe the point of beginning, which is also the point of return, and all intermediate points.
   • To distinguish the initial reference point of the description from the first point on the actual property boundary, the latter is sometimes referred to as the True Point of Beginning.

2. Courses:

   • Describe the direction one moves from one reference point to another, measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds of arc from North or South.
   • Degrees: A full circle contains 360 degrees. One degree (1°) equals 1/360 of a circle.
   • Minutes: One minute (1’) equals 1/60 of a degree.
   • Seconds: One second (1”) equals 1/60 of a minute or 1/3600 of a degree.

3. Distances:

   • Define the length of the straight line between two reference points.
   • Can be expressed in metric or English units (e.g., feet or meters).

B. How to Read a Metes and Bounds Description:

Once the True Point of Beginning is identified, the metes and bounds description describes each boundary of the property in sequence, all the way back to the True Point of Beginning.

• Example: A typical instruction in a metes and bounds description might read: “South 89 degrees 19 minutes East, 2664 feet.” This means moving in a direction 89 degrees and 19 minutes east of true South, for a distance of 2664 feet.

• Ways to express the course:

  • If the course falls exactly along one of the four cardinal directions (North, South, East, West), it is simply stated as North, South, East, or West.
  • All other courses are stated in terms of the quadrant (Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, or Southwest) and its angle relative to a line running North to South.
  • Northwest and Northeast courses are expressed in terms of the angle from North; Southwest and Southeast courses are expressed in terms of the angle from South. The angle is given in degrees, minutes, and seconds.

C. Practical Example:

“Beginning at the stone marker at the intersection of Al Amal Street and King Fahd Road (“Point of Beginning”) in the city of Riyadh, go North 5 degrees 33 minutes West; 1804 feet to the second corner of the fence referred to as “True Point of Beginning (POB)”. Commencing from the Northwest corner of the fence, run South 89 degrees 19 minutes East, 2664 feet; at the Northeast corner of the fence, run South 0 degrees 32 minutes East for 1302 feet along the stone wall to the iron pin; at the Southeast corner, run North 89 degrees 11 minutes West for 2550 feet; at the Southwest corner, run North 5 degrees 33 minutes West for 1804 feet returning to the Point of Beginning.”

• Accuracy: Metes and bounds descriptions are lengthy and complex, increasing the chances of errors when copying the description. To avoid these errors, the description is often photographed from the title deed or another document, and the image is attached as an appendix to the appraisal.
• Area Calculation: Appraisers can calculate the area of the parcel by entering the metes and bounds description into a computer program. The program can also simulate a survey around the property boundaries to see if the description ends exactly at the point of beginning.
• Technological Advancements: The use of laser transit instruments by surveyors has contributed to a more accurate determination of points, directions, and distances. Uncertainty regarding points of beginning has been largely eliminated through the use of Bench Marks, which are survey markers embedded in heavy concrete monuments. Satellite technology has also been used by surveyors for positioning.
• Usage: The metes and bounds system is often used instead of the Rectangular Survey System, and it is particularly good when describing irregular or oddly shaped parcels of land.