A chattel lien is a process by which a person may sell or take ownership of a vehicle or vessel when they provide services or materials for the vehicle or vessel at the request of the registered owner; and the person who provided the services or materials has not been compensated.

The deliberate conveyance of land by an owner for any general and public uses, reserving no rights other than those that are compatible with the full exercise and enjoyment of public uses for which the property has been conveyed. Dedications are made by the property owner filing a final plat, short plat, binding site plan, or quitclaim deed.

A deed is a document that transfers title of real estate. It contains an implied promise that the person transferring the property actually owns the title and that it is not encumbered in any way, except as described in the deed. In the United States deeds are officially recorded on the county level. Some special types of deeds include:

• Quitclaim deeds transfer whatever ownership interest the transferring party has in a particular property. The deed makes no guarantees about anything that is being transferred.

• Warranty deeds contain express assurances about the legal validity of the title being transferred.

Under the Oregon Donation Land Act of 1850, Congress allowed settlers to claim public land in Western territories. A single person could claim 320 acres; a married couple, 640 acres. The claimants received final title to the land when they had lived on it for four years and made certain improvements, or when they purchased their lands in lieu of fulfilling residency requirements.

The forty-eight donation land claims in King County, recorded under federal territorial law, are the county's oldest recorded properties and are still referenced in property descriptions.

Right granted by a property owner to specifically named parties or to the public for the use of certain private land for specified purposes, that may include, but are not limited to, access roads, pedestrian or bicycle pathways, minerals, utility lines, storm drainage pipes and ditches, erosion control slopes abutting a right-of way, and open space.

A grantor conveys or sells property to a receiver or buyer (grantee).

Incorporation is the legal process under Washington State law (RCW 35.02) by which a contiguous area of an unincorporated area of a county becomes a city or a town. An incorporated municipality must be able to provide essential services to its citizens that are at least the levels provided by the county before the incorporation. Some essential services related to property are road and street maintenance, drainage, and utility services. New municipalities may contract with counties for the continuation of these services. Property owners in King County municipalities who seek records relating to certain governmental actions (for example, street vacations or zoning) may need to contact both King County and municipal authorities.

The legal description of a piece of property includes, at minimum, lot, block, subdivision or plat name, and section-township-range coordinates.

Latin for "lawsuit pending." The term refers to a written notice that a lawsuit has been filed concerning real estate, involving either the title to the property or a claimed ownership interest in it. The notice is usually filed in the county recorder's office. In King County, older lis pendens are recorded with Judgments. Recording a lis pendens against a piece of property alerts a potential purchaser or lender that the property’s title is in question.

"Metes and bounds" is a very old form of land description. Starting from a known landmark as a place of beginning and tracing the property's perimeter, the surveyor uses measurements and markers to draw straight lines from one point to another in order to show the property's location and shape. Donation land claims in King County are described by metes and bounds. Part of the description of Seattle pioneer A. A. Denny's donation claim reads:

"Beginning at the N.W. corner of the claim also the S.W. corner of W. N. Bell's claim at half tide on the beach of Elliott's bay 75 links W. of high water mark in Section 31, where set a stone, from which [the survey line] bisects a fir 12 inches in diameter; N. 10 degrees E 115 links [to] a laurel 18 inches in diameter; S. 10 degrees, E. 109 links, thence with the meander of the Bay...."

In the above example, "degree" refers to the portion of a 360-degree circle that the survey line varies from the last stated marker. A "link" is a portion of a survey chain measuring 7.92 inches.

A patent is a type of deed by which the U.S. government, transfers public property to private individuals. When a person satisfies the obligation of a homestead claim, the federal government transfers the property's title to the individual using a patent. Like deeds, patents are filed with the county recording office where the land is located. Therefore, although homestead records are federal in origin, it is possible to research a completed homestead claim using patents.

The process of filing a copy of a deed or other document concerning real estate or land ownership with the land records office for the county in which the land is located. In King County, this is the King County Recorder's Office. Recording creates a public record of changes in ownership of all property in the state. Recorded documents are also sometimes called "recordings."

Public land, property, or property interest (e.g., an easement), usually in a strip, as well as bridges, trestles, or other structures, acquired for or devoted to transportation purposes. This does not include recreational or nature trails except where they intersect with or are located within road rights-of-way. Rights-of-way are established through deeds or easements. Unmaintained county right-of-way refers to a road within the county right-of-way that is accessible to public travel but is not maintained by King County.

Please see King County Road Services' Capital Improvement Program glossary.

Please see King County Road Services' Road Maintenance glossary.

A type of architectural drawing that shows a structure as it would appear if cut through by an intersecting plane. A section drawing reveals relationships between floors, walls and roofs by presenting a vertical slice of the building.

Please visit this glossary from the Shoreline Master Program.

Short plats are a simplified way of subdividing property. The main condition placed on short plats is that no more than four (4) new properties can be made out of any one (1) parcel. Short plats were not officially recorded until 1972, when King County adopted its first short subdivision code (Washington State did not require the recording of short plats until 1974, via RCW 58.17). However, tax assessment records can often show evidence of short-platting for years prior to 1972. More information about plat records is available online.

Please visit King County Water and Land Resources Division's glossary on stormwater.

This is a three-part number (sometimes called the STR number) that is part of legal property descriptions. The number is derived from survey lines established under the Public Land Survey System and locates a piece of property in relation to a single square mile (a section). A square of thirty-six sections make up a township. Townships lie adjacent to each other in relation to latitude. A range is a column of townships running vertically in relation to longitude.

Sections are numbered 1 to 36. In King County, townships are numbered 19 to 26 (running south to north); ranges are numbered 2 to 13 (running west to east). So for example, Lake Meridian is located in section 27, township 22, range 5. This can also be written as 27-22-5 or S27-T22-R5.

Prior to the adoption of uniform street numbering, this system was widely used (through the early 1970s) to locate places in King County. It is a useful access point for locating historical map information and aerial photographs in King County Archives collections.

The Public Land Survey System was established by the U.S. Continental Congress in 1785, under the Articles of Confederation. It covers the entire United States except for the original 13 states, and is still used today to specify locations in legal descriptions.

In this system, land is surveyed and divided into areas called townships. Townships are for the most part 36 square miles, or 6 miles square. Each township is broken down into 36 sections; each section is usually 640 acres. Sections in each township are numbered consecutively beginning with number 1 in the northeast corner of the township, and counting right to left then left to right and so on weaving back and forth through the sections of the township, and ending with number 36 in the southeast corner. This numbering allows each section to remain connected to the sections that precede and follow it. Property descriptions can further specify half-, quarter-, or smaller sections.

In Oregon and Washington, townships and ranges are referenced to the north-south Willamette Meridian (the vertical line where the survey began) and the east-west Willamette Base Line (the horizontal line where the survey began). The two lines cross on the Willamette Stone west of Portland, Oregon. Townships (normally 6 miles by 6 miles) are numbered starting with Township 1 North (of the base line) to the Canadian border and Township 1 South to the California border. Ranges are numbered west from the Willamette Meridian to the Pacific Ocean and east to the Idaho border.

In King County, townships are numbered 19 North through 26 North; ranges are numbered 2 East through 13 East.

Please see King County Department of Assessments commercial tax glossary.

Please visit King County Department of Assessment's residential tax glossary.

The Torrens Title Act (adopted in Washington State in 1907) provides an alternate method for establishing title to property. It differs from traditional recording systems in that the state guarantees the owner’s title. Under the Torrens System, state courts approve an examination of a parcel's title history and ultimately issue a Certificate of Title to the owner. The certificate is then registered with the county auditor or recording office. There are currently 3500 parcels of land registered under the Torrens System in King County. For additional information, contact the King County Recorder's Office.

A claim, charge, or encumbrance on property as a security for the payment of a debt by a tort feasor (someone who commits a tort, or civil wrong, either intentionally or through negligence.)

A plat vacation is an action, taken under Washington state law (RCW 58.17.212) but handled by local governments (in King County by the County Council), that removes the dedication (to general or public use) from a recorded plat or a portion of the plat and returns the property to private ownership.

A road vacation is an action taken by the King County Council (prior to May 1, 1969, by orders of the King County Commissioners) whereby the public interest in a road right-of-way is removed. King County holds an easement on right of way for public travel on most streets and alleys outside of incorporated areas of the County. This interest may be terminated by the County ordinance if the easement is considered useless to the County's needs and deemed beneficial by the return of the unused area to the public tax tolls. RCW 36.87 and King County Code 14.40 govern the vacation of rights-of-way in King County.

Please visit King County Wastewater Treatment Division's glossary.

Section 21A.06 of the King County Code provides definitions of technical terms related to these topics.