This plan established various north-south lines, called meridians, and various east-west lines, called baselines. This goes back to a land survey plan developed by the federal government in 1785. In most states, property descriptions often include a reference to a township. Each document may be found in a particular volume of the records, which is referred to as a 'book' or 'liber.'Īll legal descriptions will indicate the county and state, but the way in which the description is worded will vary. If you are buying property, the seller or real estate agent should have a copy of the deed.ĭeeds, mortgages, and other land documents are typically recorded with a county government agency, such as the county clerk or the register of deeds. If you own property, you should have a copy of the deed from when you acquired the title. It will usually be found on the document after a phrase similar to: 'that certain piece or parcel of land described as follows.' It will also be used for a title search, and appear on the title insurance policy.Īll deeds in the property's chain of title should have an identical legal description. Similarly, to have a valid mortgage on a property, the mortgage also must contain this legal description. In order to transfer ownership of real estate, the deed must contain a unique legal description of the property that identifies it.

How to read township and range system