California Surveyors Forums

My policy when creating a new legal description is to include a map that provides the location of the parcel with additional information and I state right on the first page that the map is a part of the description and should be used to assist in retracing the lines of the description. When the legal is for an easement, typically I find that all the pages I have prepared get recorded. But I have found also especially for residential parcels and lot line adjustments where we have created new legals that the title company just takes the words of the legal and deletes the map and that is what gets recorded. I was wondering if others of you out there see the same thing. It seems the title people feel that the only valid part of the description are the words. Of course in view of the fact that this practice has been a part of the land title business for years keeps us all busy because few people understand legal descriptions and having a map attached would be too easy. So maybe it's job security for the title company.

Could this be considered altering your description?

Might you not be liable if it is altered?

Since the Great Recession of 2008 . . . the title industry cut loose their plant people. The ones that kept track of chains of tile/judgements/etc. I speculate that it may be risk management which is the present day business model. They can eliminate millions of dollars in plant persons wages, square-footage of the plant's office space, etc. One might assume they'd be ahead by paying out claims rather than the righty-tighty ship of the past that had very few claims but overhead was substantial.

Crazy Phil's two cents - Surveyor to Recorder