Facts:
An owner asks a local agency to issue a certificate of compliance with the Subdivision Map Act (SMA) confirming a portion of their property is a valid legal parcel based on a deed describing property conveyed as several parcels including the parcel to be certified on a pre-SMA map. The parcels have never been conveyed separately. The local agency denies the application. The owner asks the court to direct the agency to issue the certificate so the owner may sell, lease or finance the parcel separate from the other parcels.
Claim:
The owner claims the local agency must issue a certificate of compliance with the Subdivision Map Act to clarify as valid the creation of a separate legal parcel described with other parcels since the property was conveyed prior to the SMA controlling parceling of property into four or less parcels.
Counterclaim: The local agency claims the description of separate lots on a map recorded before enactment of the Subdivision Map Act did not create legal parcels since to be separate legal parcels the parcel must be conveyed separately from other property.
Holding: The California Supreme Court holds the description of separate lots on a pre-Subdivision Map Act map did not create separate legal parcels since the parcels were never conveyed separately. [Cox v. City of Oakland (2025) 17 C5th 362]
Related RCD
Purchase option enforceable when made compliant with Subdivision Map Act (SMA)
Related Reading
Real Estate Principles Chapter 46: A deed as transfer
