Help breaking down a Legal Description - Land Investing

[Eric Benzenhoefer]

Howdy,

I have a motivated seller with a piece of land and neither him nor the county knows where it is. I have the legal description, and so I was hoping for help understanding how to read a legal description, and then I can go from there.

Here is the format:

First line:

(2 Letter Code) (2 digit number code) (First name initials of surveyor) (Last name of surveyor)

Second Line:

P# (2 digit number code)-(1 digit number code)

Third Line:

I# (3 digit number code)/(3 digit number code)

Here is a fake description in the Texas format.

FT 87 E J BENZENHOEFER

P# 19-3
I# 123/385

Anyone know what the different parts mean?

[Josh James]

First, there is no state format for a land description. I varies based on many factors.

I suggest you take it to a local title company, one in the county where you both think the land might be located. Another possible source of information is to search the clerks indexes for the previous owner. His deed may have a different description.

Just a guess by looking at your description, your first line is a township / range, and surveyor. The second line might be a tract or parcel number, and the third line looks like it might be a volume and page where you might find something recorded in the clerks office.

I could do a lot better with the actual description, and the county where it is located. If you don't want to post it, message me and I will try to help.

Edit: There are a lot of abbreviations and short hand notation used in legal descriptions. Without the actual description, I will really be in the dark about it. I see you are in Houston. Is the property there in Harris county, or a neighboring one? Any other information you can give will be helpful. For example, any number following an A is usually an abstract number. North, South, East, and West are abbreviated sometimes, and not other times, all depending on context.