A street address is not a legal description. To convey real estate, contracts and deeds need a description precise enough to locate the exact boundaries. Three systems do this, and the national exam tests all of them.
The three description systems
- Metes and bounds
- Describes boundaries by direction and distance from a point of beginning (POB), returning to the POB. Common in Virginia and the original colonies.
- Rectangular (government) survey
- Uses principal meridians, base lines, townships, ranges, and sections to grid land — common in western states.
- Lot and block (recorded plat)
- References a lot and block number on a recorded subdivision plat; common in developed areas.
Land measurement facts to memorize
- 1 acre = 43,560 square feet.
- 1 section = 1 square mile = 640 acres.
- A township = 36 sections (6 miles × 6 miles).
- A metes-and-bounds description must close — it returns to the point of beginning.
Virginia is a metes-and-bounds and lot-and-block state. Questions often test the point of beginning and the fact that a valid description must return to it.