Property affected by a body of water can be difficult to examine and insure. In this article we are going to talk about the problems that can arise when dealing with property legal descriptions and bodies of water.
Water’s Impact on Title Insurance
As the water level of a body of water rises, falls or shifts, the shape and area of the adjoining land changes. Using part of a body of water (e.g. East lake shore) as a reference point for a body of water can be problematic. For example, a legal description that starts on the shore of a lake or relies solely upon the shore of a lake for its bearing is uninsurable. The reason for this is that as the water level rises or falls or shifts, so does that water boundary that was referenced in the legal description. This can have the effect of moving one of the boundaries of the legal description back or forth or even moving the entire parcel of land as the water boundary changes. As a title insurer, we have seen instances where legal descriptions referencing a body of water have caused a lot of problems and resulted in litigation.