California Real Estate Practice Exam

What system of legal description likely uses terms like baselines and meridians?

1. Metes and bounds

2. Government survey

3. Lot and block

4. Rectangular survey

The correct answer is: Government survey

Government survey is a system of legal description that divides an area of land using baselines and meridians in order to identify specific locations. Metes and bounds is an older and more complex system of legal description that involves using natural and artificial boundaries, such as rivers or roads, and measuring distances and direction to identify the boundaries of a parcel of land. Lot and block is a system used for primarily urban subdivisions, where a large area is divided into smaller lots and blocks, each with a specific number or name. Rectangular survey, also known as the Public Land Survey System, is a system used by the US government to divide and describe land within the 30 original states. It is based on a grid of lines that intersect at right angles, but does not use baselines and meridians like the Government survey system. Therefore, Government survey is the most likely system