As a general rule, Agents National Title does not insure the actual amount of acreage to property and reference to the quantity of land should be avoided. If acreage is to be insured, the acreage must be certified to Agents National Title in an acceptable current survey. Also, it is important to obtain an accurate legal description of the land including the section, township, and range in which it is located. In many cases, abbreviations may be used. For instance, the “the Northwest quarter of the Northeast quarter of the South half of Section 7, Township 30 South, Range 26 East” may be shown as the “NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of the S 1/2, Sec. 7, T-30-S, R-26-E.”
In some cases, acreage descriptions may include a carved out portion of land that requires a more detailed metes and bounds description. It is necessary to verify that the property description begins and ends at the same point of beginning for proper closure of the parcel. An estimate of the amount of acreage may be included at the end of the metes and bounds description (e.g., “containing 3.5 acres M.O.L.”) although the quantity of such acreage is not generally insurable.
When insuring acreage property that has been carved out of a larger portion of land, be sure to verify not only that the “new” legal description closes properly, but that it is completely contained within the larger parcel(s) of land from which it is carved, and that it is not affected by any overlapping conveyances. .