Metes and Bounds: Understanding Land Survey Systems

Metes and Bounds: Understanding Land Survey Systems

A “metes and bounds” description is the most common and unambiguous real property description used in Texas. If you are reasonably familiar with real estate, you have probably heard of “metes and bounds”, but you may not know what they are or why they are used.

History

Both mete and bound are derived from Old English and mean “to measure” and “limit”, respectively. A mete is the measurement of the direction and length of a defined line, such as “south 23 degrees west for 37 feet”, while a bound is a physical landmark at which metes connect. A boundcan be a naturally occurring object, such as a boulder or tree, but modern surveys typically use man-made objects, such as metal pins that are staked into the ground. In other words, a metes and bounds description provides the exact location of a parcel or real property with measurements based on specific points in the land.

Precursors to metes and bounds have been used in real property transactions since such transactions have been recorded. The ancient Greeks recorded land transactions using geometric measurements and natural landmarks. The Romans formalized this process with the Cadastrum, a system of land surveying which divided land into plots using physical markers such as stones or posts which were often inscribed with the name of the landowners. When England began formalizing its legal system in the 12^th century, surveying became the common method of describing land ownership and boundaries, using a similar method to what we use today. It was this surveying method that was brought to the New World by English settlers and is continued today, albeit with modern equipment.

Metes and Bounds Today

Today, metes and bounds continue to be used in states with historic land grants such as Georgia and the Carolinas. Alternatively, some states predominantly use lot and block descriptions, in which large swaths of land are subdivided into blocks of equal proportions (called the Public Land Survey System) and those blocks are then subdivided further and further to reach the final description for transactional purposes (such as the “South Half of the Northwest Quarter of Section 22, Township 3 South, Range 6 West…”).

But most states use a mixture of both systems, with metes and bounds being used in rural areas that have irregularly shaped parcels, and lot and block descriptions being used in urban and suburban areas with more uniform parcel sizes.

Why Does Texas Use the Metes and Bounds System?

Texas generally uses the metes and bounds system for a variety of reasons. Much of the land in what is now Texas was subject to Spanish and Mexican land grants which were established by early metes and bonds surveying methods.

As a result, much of the rural portions of the state began with irregular-shaped parcels which have only become more irregular-shaped as they have been further subdivided over time. A form of lot and block description is now used in many urban and suburban areas in Texas, however. In most cities and suburbs, real property is subdivided by a plat to create parcels that can be identified by lot and block (such as “Lot 3, Block 12 of Hunterwood Forest, a subdivision of Loving County, Texas, according to the map or plat thereof recorded under File Code No. 47598 of the Loving County Real Property Records”). Because these plats are recorded in public real property records, the lot and block descriptions can be used in conveying instruments without the need for metes and bounds to be prepared each time the property changes hands. For more insight into how BoyarMiller can assist with complex real estate transactions and property law, explore our Real Estate practice or Contact Us.