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Permalink Reply by hdm a1 on August 16, 2008 at 2:04

Ok, ty
the description is also very vague
lot 3 unit 3
but none of the soutwest corner to northeast or any of that type of language
lol it worried me when I could actually read and understand what it said

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Permalink Reply by hdm a1 on August 16, 2008 at 2:16

it just seemed too simple

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Permalink Reply by M. Mcwilliams on August 16, 2008 at 2:27

When you say that the map is outdated, what do you mean? What map are you looking at? The clerks' offices keep all sorts of maps for reference, many of them are old. (I can spend hours in a courthouse entertaining myself by looking at old maps; I find it incredibly fascinating).

Your description is a subdivision description. It probably is Lot 3 of Unit 3 of such-and-such subdivision. It might be further described by describing the plat of the subdivision itself. A developer has to file a plat map, showing the lots, roads, etc., before he starts selling lots. That map will show the larger description, probably.

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Permalink Reply by hdm a1 on August 16, 2008 at 3:07

I was referring to a map sent to me by the tax acc office. I just assume (??) that all of this haynesville shale business has caught the smaller parishes completely off guard. The map looks like it has been drawn by hand and then scratched over and crossed out repeatedly

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Permalink Reply by Mom A1 on August 16, 2008 at 3:48

Would a public library have more maps????? Road trip!

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Permalink Reply by M. Mcwilliams on August 16, 2008 at 3:56

The downtown, or main, branch of Shreve Memorial Library has a Louisiana room, I forget which floor it's on. There are maps there. If I remember correctly, they had old Tobin (oilfield lease) maps on that floor. What are you looking for?

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Permalink Reply by M. Mcwilliams on August 16, 2008 at 3:57

I would be surprised that the Webster Parish tax assessor hasn't computerized its mapping system. DeSoto has, and can print out a section map very easily. Hard to know what map you're referring to - did you ask for an ownership map?

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Permalink Reply by fox on August 16, 2008 at 10:16

Desoto parish assessors office has some very good computerized maps that are updated often, however every map may have some bad descriptions that came through in the deeds, some many years ago.

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Permalink Reply by Robert on August 16, 2008 at 8:14

I am a Real Estate Appraiser and have dealt with the various parish Tax Assessor offices on an almost weekly basis. If you are in a subdivison your "Legal Description" will be something along the lines of Lot "??" in "??" Subdivision or Lot "??" in "??" Subdivision Unit "??". Something along those lines really. It could simply say 123 Main Street (1.03 acres) or something like that. Usually when you get into some larger tracts of land (2 or more acres) you will get the long drawn out legal descriptions that give the various points of reference and amount of feet each way and such. None of these types of discrpitions are bad or anything like that, just different.

If you are in a subdivison: Try to get in touch with the builder who developed it and get a lot map of the subdivision to reference where and what size your particular lot is. Of you can go to the clerk of courts and or tax assessor office for your parish and see if they have a subdivision map on file that you can get a copy of and reference it for your particular lot size.

If you have a larger tract of property and or your legal discrpition does not define the amount of property you have (2.55 acres or the such) the best thing to do would be to hire a surveyer to come out and do a particular survey of your property. Not only will you get an accurate amount of acerage but you will get your property lines marked for your reference.

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Permalink Reply by V.P. on August 18, 2008 at 5:14

I also went to the tax assesors in Webster to pick up a legal description of my 3 properties... 2 of my properties were listed on 'the map' with my name but the 3rd and most recent aquisition was not on 'the map' as of yet. Was told that they - WPTA
will have their 'plaques' updated very soon with the current land owners listed. They are gonna have to now, if it wasn't for the shale activity and interest, who knows when they would have gotten around to it.

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Permalink Reply by hdm a1 on August 18, 2008 at 14:15

This is exactly what I am referring to. They faxed me my description along with a map and it was not current, so the person in the office scratched through what was on the paper and wrote our names on it. Whew I am so glad someone knew what I was trying to say

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Permalink Reply by M. Mcwilliams on August 19, 2008 at 1:28

I'm kind of surprised that Webster hasn't computerized its tax maps. Every parish is different, and when you do title work, you learn that there's a lot more involved in running the clerk of court and tax assessor's offices than you would have ever believed.

Years ago I worked in Jackson Parish. The guy I was working for was trying to find small unleased tracts in existing units to buy for this broker. Well, we found out why there were unleased tracts; it was because it was a nightmare to pin down ownership and even the location of various pieces of property in that parish. I was told that the assessor just didn't bother to record transfers if he didn't want to. Also, there had been an explosion at the courthouse back in the 1930s, and that affected a lot of the records. To add to the problem, lots of the property descriptions had never been written from a survey, they were old, old metes and bounds descriptions, using landmarks. This was in and around the former town of Vernon, which had been the parish seat at one time. So descriptions read like this: "begin at the SW corner of Dr. Simonton's office lot", etc. (and Dr. Simonton's office lot was there in the 1880's, but isn't there now). One description that I remember referred to the Sparta-Vernon Road. I went out there, and asked an oldtimer where that road was, because I couldn't find it on any map. He pointed across the highway, and said "See that ditch? That was the road" - it was an old stagecoach road that now just looked like a rut in the dirt.

I was told that even surveyors wouldn't go into Jackson Parish.

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