A legal description is a description of a parcel of real property such that a surveyor can distinguish that parcel from all other parcels of real property in the world. In Florida, there are three types of legal descriptions: a lot and block description referencing a plat recorded in the public records; section land description reference the government survey prepared at the time that Florida became a state; and a metes and bounds description which begins at a specified point and by references to a series of angles, curves, and distances describes the boundaries of the property.
A question sometimes arises about whether a street address is a sufficient legal description. A devise of property by street address has been held to be sufficient. See, Wright v. Sallet, 66 So. 2d 237 (Fla. 1953). A transfer of property by street address in a final judgment of dissolution of marriage has been held to be sufficient. See, Baker v. Baker, 271 So. 2d 796 (Fla. 3d DCA 1973); Paterson v. Brafman, 530 So. 2d 499 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Bauer v. Kaplan, 233 So. 2d 430 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970), cert.den. 238 So. 2d 420 (Fla. 1970); First Federal Savings & Loan Ass?n. v. Fisher, 60 So. 2d 496 (Fla. 1952). A deed between two parties using a street address as a legal description may be sufficient. See, Bajrangi v. Magnethel Enterprises, Inc., 589 So. 2d 416 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991); Paterson v. Brafman, 530 So. 2d 499 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Western World, Inc. v. Dansby, 566 So. 2d 866 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990). While a court may uphold the use of a street address as a legal description, using such an address on a deed is not a good practice.
Legal descriptions must be precise and exact. Because of this necessity for exactness, errors in legal descriptions, even small ones, cause title problems.
In lot and block descriptions, there may be typographical errors in the lot number, the block number, the plat book number, the page number, or the name of the plat. If the errors are relatively minor and the incorrect description does not describe a parcel of real property that actually exists, the error can be corrected by recording a scrivener?s affidavit explaining the typographical error and an affidavit from the official in charge of maintaining the official records for the county in which the property is located (either the clerk of the circuit court or the controller) that no such property as described in the erroneous deed exists. If the error is major or if it describes another parcel of land, a corrective deed is necessary. The corrective deed should reference the recording information for the erroneous deed, explain the nature of the error and include the correct legal description. If the erroneous deed describes another parcel of land, it puts a cloud on the title to the other parcel of land which must be corrected by a quit claim deed from the grantee in the erroneous deed to the record title owner of the other parcel. Similarly, if the error is contained in the legal description of a mortgage, a corrective mortgage must be recorded and the property described in error must be released from the lien of the mortgage.
Typographical errors in section land descriptions usually involve a missed or improper reference (for example, the ?NE ?? instead of the ?NW ??) or an omitted reference. Because the section land description starts with a real piece of property and describes a portion of it, any erroneous description describes property that is owned by someone else. When correcting this type of error, you will need a corrective deed and a deed from the grantee in the incorrect deed to the record owner of the property that was described in the incorrect deed.
Sometimes in a section land description, the name of the county in which property is located is omitted from the description. This is not a fatal error. Since the reference is to the government survey of all of Florida, the county in which the property is located can be determined by reference to the government survey. See, Miller v. Griffin, 128 So. 416 (Fla. 1930); Ainsley v. Graham, 74 So. 505 (Fla. 1917); Black v. Skinner Mfg. Co., 43 So. 919 (Fla. 1907); Peacock v. Feaster, 42 So. 889 (Fla. 1906).
Metes and bounds descriptions are the types of descriptions prepared by surveyors. They involve multiple calls and distances (for example, ?go N 15? 8? 12? W from the point of beginning 375.86? to a point on the north right of way for Shell Rock Rd.?). Errors in this type of description typically involve a missed call or a miscalculation by the surveyor resulting in a boundary description that does not close. Since a boundary description that does not close does not describe any land, only a correct deed is needed to correct an error in a metes and bounds description.
While a precise legal description is necessary for the conveyance of a fee interest in real property, the same precision is not necessary for the conveyance of an easement. An easement whose location cannot be located precisely because the wording of the deed creating it is imprecise is still a cloud on the title. See, Kotich v. Durrant, 196 So. 802 (Fla. 1940); Hynes v. City of Lakeland, 451 So. 2d 505 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984); Florida Power Corp. v. Hicks, 156 So. 2d 408 (Fla. 2d DCA 1963); Kingdon v. Walker, 156 So. 2d 208 (Fla. 2d DCA 1963).
Occasionally, property will be described as ?all my property.? This description has been held to be good between the parties, but is insufficient as to third parties. See, Board of Public Instruction v. McDonald, 196 So. 859 (Fla. 1940); Davis v. Horne, 45 So. 476 (Fla. 1907); St. Joe Paper Company v. Southern Oil Exploration,390 So. 2d 1228 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980).
Another situation which causes problems arises when a deed contains the wording ?a dwelling located on [legal description].? Such a description is ambiguous. It is not clear whether the grantor intends to convey all of the property described or just the land on which the dwelling is located. See, Stiles v. Gordon Land Co., 44 So. 2d 417 (Fla. 1950); Massachusetts Audubon Soc. V. Ormand Vill. Imp. Ass?n., 10 So. 2d 494 (Fla. 1942).
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Source: http://tampabayrealestatelaw.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/legal-description-errors/
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