California Partition Law Blog
A property’s legal description is an essential element of any property transfer, and it serves as the basis for most property-based lawsuits. Quiet title summons, partition complaints, and lis pendens notices must all contain legal descriptions, just to name a few.
Funnily enough, however, despite the legal description importance, there is no standard form in use. It can be a property’s address (if it has one), a metes and bounds description, or (commonly), it can reference a county’s official map.
But what is not sufficient, at least by itself, is a property’s assessor parcel number (APN). This is because an APN is a number assigned to a parcel map to designate property or groups of properties as being subject to certain taxes. The county assessor isn’t concerned with assigning numbers to correctly measure the physical size of the lot. Instead, an assessor may combine properties or cut them in half for taxation purposes.
What is an assessment parcel?
It might make sense to believe that every individual piece of property in the state has its own unique APN. After all, we have unique social security numbers and driver’s licenses. But if you read the above carefully, the APN is not assigned to “properties.” It is the number assigned to “assessment parcels.” And no, they are not the same thing.
An assessment parcel is an area of land that, in the opinion of the assessor, should be included under one description for assessment purposes. (Cafferkey v. City and County of San Francisco (2015) 236 Cal.App.4th 858, 868 (Cafferkey).) The assessor is not concerned with how the area is plotted; instead, they want to know how the area is owned and used. (Id.) If several adjacent lots are plotted by the Subdivision Map Act, the assessor may choose to combine them all into one parcel, provided they are owned and used by the same owner(s).
What is an Assessor Parcel Number?
In order to understand the relevance of the assessor parcel number, one needs first to become familiar with the function of assessor parcel maps.
In every county in California, there is a general assessor and recorder. The assessor identifies, inventories, and appraises taxable property within the county and places that information on the tax rolls. (Cafferkey, 236 Cal.App.4th at 867.) This tax roll must contain “certain specified information” and must clearly designate the property assessed. (Statewide Homeowners, Inc. v. Williams (1973) 30 Cal.App.3d 567, 570.)
This is because the tax roll is important to both the county and the taxpayer. Obviously, the taxpayer wants to know with a level of certainty what property is assessed to him or her and whether that property is properly valued. (Cafferkey, 236 Cal.App.4th at 868.)
So how is this done? The county recorder legally describes the land in an assessor’s map by parcel. So, in other words, an assessor’s map is really just a tool regarding “matters of taxation or real estate.” (Schainman v. All Persons (1929) 96 Cal.App. 753, 757.)
This leads us back to the APN. If properties are tracked by parcels in the assessor’s maps so that they can be properly taxed, then the APN is just the specific number each individual parcel has in the assessor’s map.
What is a legal description?
As an initial matter, you might find yourself asking why a legal description is important in the first place. Simply put, it’s an essential element of real estate conveyance and litigation. In order for a deed to be valid, it needs a legal description. (Civ. Code § 1092.) In order for a lis pendens to be valid, it needs a legal description. (CCP § 405.4.) And the list goes on.
As for what it may be, a legal description can, technically, be anything. Put another way, a legal description of a piece of property can be a number, street address, or phrase. But if that description ever wants to be upheld in a court of law, then it must be sufficient to both identify and locate the exact property. (Podd v. Anderson (1963) 215 Cal.App.2d 660, 665.)
For instance, the Civil Code actually gives an example of an adequate legal description. Civil Code section 1092 states:
A grant of an estate in real property may be made in substance as follows: “I, A B, grant to C D all that real property situated in (insert name of county) County, State of California, bounded (or described) as follows: (here insert property description, or if the land sought to be conveyed has a descriptive name, it might be described by the name, as for instance, ‛The Norris Ranch.’)
This, or a street address, would be sufficient where the boundaries of the land are readily determinable. But, if the address or phrase could apply equally to more than one property, the legal description becomes inadequate.
Is the APN a valid legal description?
No. And this is because APNs serve an entirely different purpose. A property described in an assessor’s map, referred to be its APN, need not correspond with actual subdivisions, lots, tracts, or other legal divisions or boundaries of the land. (XPO Logistics Freight, Inc v. Hayward Property, LLC (2022) 79 Cal.App.5th 1166, 1176.)
The assessor isn’t interested in demarcating land by its exact boundaries. Parcel maps, instead, are used to sell, lease, or finance the property. (Sixells, LLC v. Cannery Business Park (2008) 170 Cal.App.4th 648, 652. After all, the assessor’s job is to make money. They are raising revenue for the county, not regulating the division of land.
Moreover, under California’s Revenue and Tax Code, so long as the assessor maps are “accurate,” then the assessor may number or letter parcels in a manner approved by the board of supervisors. (Rev. & Tax. Code § 327.)
The end result is that every county treats APNs differently, making their utility that much more limited. For instance, Sacramento’s APNs are 14 digits, whereas Alameda’s are 9 digits. In short, APNs may be useful for tax purposes but cannot be valid legal descriptions for the reasons above.
How can Attorneys at the Underwood Law Firm Assist You?
Most real estate purchasers do not think much of a property description at first. Usually, they believe that it’s just something the title company will handle. But an inadequate description can void a deed outright, destroying a sale or the attempt to transfer property to a loved one. As such, it’s crucial to get it right from the outset of a conveyance or lawsuit.
As each case is unique, property owners would be well-served to seek experienced counsel familiar with the intricacies of deeds and real estate descriptions. At the Underwood Law Firm, our knowledgeable attorneys are here to help. If you are attempting to get the right description for a partition, wondering if a property conveyance is valid, or if you just have questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office.
Learn more here.