What is Metes and Bounds?

Legal & Regulatory

Metes and Bounds

A legal description that traces a property's perimeter by courses and distances from a point of beginning — bearings, feet, and monuments. The oldest description method, still standard for irregular and rural parcels.

Related Terms

Survey

A licensed surveyor's measurement and mapping of a property's boundaries, improvements, and encroachments.

Plat

A recorded map of a subdivision showing lots, blocks, streets, and easements.

Lot

A defined parcel of land, typically described by reference to a recorded plat or tax map.

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Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP)

USPAP

The nationally recognized ethical and performance standards for the appraisal profession, established by The Appraisal Foundation.

FIRREA (Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act)

FIRREA

The 1989 federal law that established the modern appraisal regulatory framework, requiring state licensing of appraisers and USPAP compliance for all federally related real estate transactions..

Dodd-Frank Act (Appraisal Provisions)

The 2010 federal financial reform law that included significant appraisal provisions: appraiser independence requirements, AMC registration, customary and reasonable fee mandates, and prohibition of BPOs for origination..

Appraiser Independence

The legal requirement that appraisers must be free from improper influence, coercion, or pressure from parties with a financial interest in the transaction outcome.