The Blank Legal Description Attachment

Case 23-009185 | Card 13 | 4880 T Street, Sacramento CA 95819

On May 8, 2023, the City recorded a Notice of Pending Enforcement Proceeding against the property EX1. The recorded notice's "LEGAL DESCRIPTION" block contains four identifier fields: assessor's parcel No. 01101350100000, the street address 4880 T Street in Sacramento, the owner name Jackie Baritell Trust, and an owner mailing address of 4880 T ST / SACRAMENTO, CA 95819 EX1. The copy in the produced case file carries the same identifier block M122. Neither version contains separate legal-description text — no metes-and-bounds description, lot or block, subdivision-map reference, or reference to a prior recorded instrument.

The City's packet treats the legal description as distinct from the parcel number and address. The April 12, 2023 Notice and Order face page states, "See Attachment A for legal description of property" M124. The produced Attachment A is headed "Legal Property Description for 4880 T ST," repeats the parcel number, and leaves its "Legal Description:" field blank M126. The document the packet names as the source of the legal description supplies none.

IN PLAIN TERMS

The Notice and Order told readers the property's legal description was in Attachment A. Attachment A's "Legal Description:" field is blank. The recorded notice identifies the property only by parcel number, street address, and owner information; it contains no separate legal description either. The document the City named as the source of the legal description does not contain one.

RECORD CHAIN

The completed, recorded notice identifies the property only by parcel, address, and owner fields. Page M122 shows two copies; the upper is a blank *SAMPLE*, and the lower, completed copy bears Peter Lemos's printed name and title over a blank signature line. The signed and notarized version recorded against the property is EX1. In both the completed copy and EX1, the "LEGAL DESCRIPTION" block carries the parcel number, street address, owner name, and owner mailing-address line, and no separate legal-description text.
The order points to Attachment A. The Notice and Order face page directs the reader to "Attachment A for legal description of property" M124. The served-packet proofs list "Attachment A (legal property description)" as a component of the certified-mail, first-class-mail, and posting packets M131 M132 M133.
Attachment A supplies no separate description. The produced Attachment A repeats parcel No. 01101350100000 and leaves the "Legal Description:" field blank M126. Card 4 sets out the production-completeness baseline for reading the produced Attachment A as the City's record on this point.
Sacramento County's assessor guidance distinguishes parcel identifiers from legal descriptions. The County assessor's page describes assessor parcel numbers and parcel maps as assessment tools and states that assessor parcel maps are not legal documents or surveys and should not be used to define property lines COUNTY.SacAssessor.ParcelMapsFAQ. The identifiers in the recorded notice's "LEGAL DESCRIPTION" block are assessment and mailing identifiers of this kind.
Recorder acceptance is a separate question. GC.27201 governs acceptance for recording; it does not adjudicate the sufficiency of an instrument's description. HSC.17985 authorizes recording a notice of pending enforcement; it does not itself supply description content.

FULL CIRCLE

The City placed a pending-enforcement proceeding into the real-property record with a "LEGAL DESCRIPTION" block containing only parcel, address, and owner identifiers EX1 M122. The Notice and Order points to Attachment A for the legal description, and Attachment A leaves that field blank M124 M126.

The expected response is that the parcel number and street address are sufficient for identification under SCC.8.100.720(A)(1), and that the County Recorder accepted the instrument.

That response does not reach the gap internal to the City's own packet. The City labeled a block "LEGAL DESCRIPTION," directed readers to Attachment A for the legal description, listed Attachment A as a component of the mailed and posted packets, and produced an Attachment A whose legal-description field is blank M124 M126 M131 M132 M133.

The finding does not assert that a statute required metes and bounds, or that the Recorder was required to reject the instrument. It is limited to the produced record: the document named to supply the legal description leaves that field blank.

APPLICABLE LAW

SCC.8.100.720(A)(1): Notice and Order must carry a street address and "a legal description sufficient for identification" of the premises.
GC.27201: Recorder-acceptance provision; the Recorder's acceptance of the instrument for recording is not a substantive finding that the legal description is adequate.
HSC.17985: Authorizes recording a notice of the pendency of an enforcement action in the county recorder's office; silent on description content.
COUNTY.SacAssessor.ParcelMapsFAQ: Sacramento County Assessor guidance distinguishing assessor parcel maps from legal documents or surveys.

SOURCE CITATIONS USED BY THIS CARD

R.25-3549 - NextRequest 25-3549 closed-as-complete production for the City case file and production-completeness posture
R.26-1965 - NextRequest 26-1965 searchable CitizenServe case-file request; public source/provenance for M
EX1 - Recorded Notice of Pending Enforcement Proceeding, Sacramento County Recorder Doc No. 202305081060, recorded 05/08/2023; signed and notarized version whose "LEGAL DESCRIPTION" block gives parcel No. 01101350100000, 4880 T Street, owner Jackie Baritell Trust, and an owner mailing-address line, but no separate legal-description text.
M122 - p.122: Notice of Pending Enforcement Proceeding as produced in the case file; blank sample above the completed copy; completed copy's "LEGAL DESCRIPTION" block gives parcel No. 01101350100000, 4880 T Street, owner Jackie Baritell Trust, and an owner mailing-address line, but no separate legal-description text.
M124 - p.124: Notice and Order face page dated 04/12/2023, reciting "See Attachment A for legal description of property."
M126 - p.126: Attachment A, "Legal Property Description for 4880 T ST"; lists parcel No. 01101350100000 and leaves the "Legal Description:" field blank.
M131 - p.131: Proof of Service by Certified Mail, listing "Attachment A (legal property description)."
M132 - p.132: Proof of Service by First Class Mail, listing "Attachment A (legal property description)."
M133 - p.133: Declaration of Posting Notice, listing "Attachment A (legal property description)."

CARD REFERENCES

Card 4 - production-completeness baseline.