4201.19: Legal description requirements (03/02/16)

For each Mortgage purchased by Freddie Mac, the legal description as stated in the Security Instrument and title insurance policy or other evidence of title must be in one of the following forms:

(a) Metes and boundsA metes and bounds description should comply with the following standards:

The beginning point should be established by a monument located at the beginning point or by reference to a nearby monument
The sides of the Mortgaged Premises must be described by the distances and bearings of each. In place of bearings, the interior angle method is acceptable if the beginning point is on a dedicated public street line or a fixed line on other property, or if the course of the first side can be otherwise properly fixed.
The distances, bearings and angles should be taken from a recent instrument survey or recently recertified instrument survey by a licensed civil engineer or registered surveyor
Curved courses should be described by data including the length of arc, the radius of circle for the arc and the chord distance and bearing. When a survey course is part of a dedicated public street or road line, the course may be described by indicating the distance and direction the course takes along the street line from the end of the previous course, if commonly accepted by private institutional Mortgage investors in the area where the Mortgaged Premises is located.
The legal description should be a single perimeter description of the entire plot. Division into parcels must be avoided unless serving a special purpose of the Mortgage. Division is necessary, however, if the plot is located on two sides of a public way. It is also customary in many areas to describe an easement appurtenant to a fee parcel by using a separate parcel description.

(b) Lot and blockA description composed of lots and/or blocks including a reference to a recorded map or plat that shows the lots or blocks is usually adequate.When all of the lots or blocks in the description do not appear on the same recorded map or plat; however, a reference to the location of the apparently identical sides of lots or blocks in different recorded maps or plats, fixed in both maps or plats by the same monuments (a rare situation) is usually adequate.
(c) Additional acceptable formsAlthough encountered in only a few cases, a description of a parcel bounded on all sides by dedicated streets or alleys can acceptably refer only to the bounding lines of the streets or alleys.A description of registered property is acceptable if in the form required by the local Torrens Act.
(d) Consistency of legal descriptionThe Mortgage, title insurance policy (or substitute evidence of title), survey, lease, mortgage insurance policy, property insurance policies and all other documents pertaining to the Mortgage or the Mortgaged Premises must each have a legal description consistent with that in the other documents.