Anderson (1963) 215 Cal.App.2d 660, 665.)įor instance, the Civil Code actually gives an example of an adequate legal description. But if that description ever wants to be upheld in a court of law, then it must be sufficient to both identify and locate the exact property. Put another way, a legal description of a piece of property can be a number, street address, or phrase. (CCP § 405.4.) And the list goes on.Īs for what it may be, a legal description can, technically, be anything. Code § 1092.) In order for a lis pendens to be valid, it needs a legal description.
In order for a deed to be valid, it needs a legal description. Simply put, it’s an essential element of real estate conveyance and litigation. What is a legal description?Īs an initial matter, you might find yourself asking why a legal description is important in the first place. If properties are tracked by parcels in the assessor’s maps so that they can be properly taxed, then the APN is just the specific number each individual parcel has in the assessor’s map. So, in other words, an assessor’s map is really just a tool regarding “matters of taxation or real estate.” ( Schainman v. So how is this done? The county recorder legally describes the land in an assessor’s map by parcel. Obviously, the taxpayer wants to know with a level of certainty what property is assessed to him or her and whether that property is properly valued. This is because the tax roll is important to both the county and the taxpayer. ( Cafferkey, 236 Cal.App.4th at 867.) This tax roll must contain “certain specified information” and must clearly designate the property assessed. The assessor identifies, inventories, and appraises taxable property within the county and places that information on the tax rolls. In every county in California, there is a general assessor and recorder. In order to understand the relevance of the assessor parcel number, one needs first to become familiar with the function of assessor parcel maps. ) If several adjacent lots are plotted by the Subdivision Map Act, the assessor may choose to combine them all into one parcel, provided they are owned and used by the same owner(s). City and County of San Francisco (2015) 236 Cal.App.4th 858, 868 ( Cafferkey ).) The assessor is not concerned with how the area is plotted instead, they want to know how the area is owned and used. But if you read the above carefully, the APN is not assigned to “properties.” It is the number assigned to “assessment parcels.” And no, they are not the same thing.Īn assessment parcel is an area of land that, in the opinion of the assessor, should be included under one description for assessment purposes. After all, we have unique social security numbers and driver’s licenses.
It might make sense to believe that every individual piece of property in the state has its own unique APN. Instead, an assessor may combine properties or cut them in half for taxation purposes. The county assessor isn’t concerned with assigning numbers to correctly measure the physical size of the lot. This is because an APN is a number assigned to a parcel map to designate property or groups of properties as being subject to certain taxes. It can be a property’s address (if it has one), a metes and bounds description, or (commonly), it can reference a county’s official map.īut what is not sufficient, at least by itself, is a property’s assessor parcel number (APN). Quiet title summons, partition complaints, and lis pendens notices must all contain legal descriptions, just to name a few.įunnily enough, however, despite the legal description importance, there is no standard form in use. A property’s legal description is an essential element of any property transfer, and it serves as the basis for most property-based lawsuits.
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