SECTION 175.4. Land Description

(a) Land selected to be purchased by the board must be described by a legally sufficient metes and bounds description. The property description must:

(1) contain a general description of the land, specifying the acreage contained, the original survey(s) or grant(s) with abstract number(s), survey number(s) and block designation, if applicable, and the county in which the tract is located (if the tract is divided by a county line, the appropriate abstract numbers and acreage on each side of the county line will be shown). The general description shall also contain the deed reference to the parent tract including grantor, grantee, date of instrument, and volume and page of recording. Additional references to other instruments in the chain of title may be referred to if appropriate;

(2) contain a specific description of the land, defining each side of the tract by course and distance or appropriate and complete curve data, identifying and describing monuments at each corner, and further identifying the land by calls for other natural and artificial objects on and along the boundaries and by calls for and reference to adjoining properties where appropriate;

(3) be tied to a corner of an original grant or survey if such corner is locatable and if the tie is not impractical to obtain. If it is impossible or impractical to tie to a corner of an original grant or survey the tract should tie to a locatable corner of the parent tract or any of the adjoinders;

(4) include a description, either by metes and bounds or center line, of the access easement from the tract to an existing public road of all tracts which do not abut a public road.

(b) If the tract selected is in a subdivision, a lot and block description of the tract may be substituted for the metes and bounds description. If a lot and block description is to be used, the board must be furnished a copy of the recorded subdivision plat. This plat must show the recording information and the required signatures of the governmental entity (commissioners court, city council, etc.) authorized to accept such subdivision plat. Easements as necessary for access to a public road from all tracts must be clearly shown on the subdivision plat together with appropriate language dedicating such easement to the public or to the owners of tracts in the subdivision. All the data required in subsection (a) of this section should be shown on the face of the plat, including courses and distances for all lot lines and areas for each lot. All plats accepted subsequent to the adoption of this section shall identify the size and type of monument set at each corner of every lot. If a lot is part of a subdivision already of record where monumentation is not shown, a survey plat shall be furnished indicating monuments set or found at all corners of the tract together with sufficient ties to locate the lot within the subdivision.

(c) All metes and bounds descriptions and survey plats shall bear the seal and signature of the surveyor preparing the same. Any field notes or survey plat prepared for and used in any Veterans Land Board transaction includes a license from the surveyor to the board and the veteran purchaser to copy and use the field notes in that transaction and in any future transactions involving the surveyed property.

(d) Metes and bounds descriptions must be prepared from a survey of the property made on the ground. The survey should be made in such manner to be generally acceptable to title companies in the State of Texas for the purpose of deleting the survey exception clause.

(e) Each corner of the tract of land shall be marked by concrete or metal monuments or other durable monuments generally used in the area. A description of each monument set or found and its location, with witnesses as available, shall be incorporated into the metes and bounds description of the property.

(f) When a roadway or easement crosses a tract, it shall be described sufficiently to enable its location throughout the tract and its area to be determined.

(g) Property descriptions and subdivision plats will be examined by the board for acreage, closure, and sufficiency. The board's determination of these items will control.

(h) The surveyor should be instructed to do a proper boundary survey of the land to be conveyed according to the record boundaries of the tracts involved. Any encroachments by existing perimeter fences into the subject tract or into adjacent tracts should be shown together with the area of any lands lying between the record boundaries and the existing occupation. Any occupation on the ground not conforming to the record boundaries should be shown on a plat of survey and fully explained in an accompanying surveyors report.

(i) The chairman may waive any of the foregoing requirements and accept a survey deemed sufficient by the title company to permit deletion of the survey exception clause.

Source Note: The provisions of this §175.4 adopted to be effective May 7, 1991, 16 TexReg 2305; amended to be effective June 9, 2003, 28 TexReg 4434; amended to be effective December 21, 2010, 35 TexReg 11390