A street address is useful for navigation but is not the recorder's legal chain-of-title identifier. Washington's recording statute illustrates the distinction: the grantor/grantee index may use cover-sheet data, while the names and legal description in the recorded instrument determine the legal chain of title. The research question is whether the contract exhibit, recorded deed, and assessor record describe the same land.
Identity comparison
| Source | Fields to reconcile |
|---|---|
| Purchase agreement | Address, parcel number, attached legal description |
| Recorder index or cover sheet | Grantor, grantee, recording number, abbreviated legal description |
| Recorded deed | Instrument date, execution/acknowledgment, grantor, grantee, full legal description |
| Assessor record | Parcel or account number, situs address, map or plat reference |
The Washington statute expressly says that the names and legal description in the instrument, rather than cover-sheet errors, determine the legal chain of title. That makes the recorder index a retrieval aid, not a substitute for reading the deed. This is a jurisdiction-specific legal rule and not a national rate of description errors.
Research finding
Classify files as exact match, explainable formatting difference, incomplete attachment, or unresolved conflict. Preserve the deed's verbatim legal description, instrument number, recording date, grantor/grantee names, and the recorder's index path. Compare plat-and-lot, section-township-range, and metes-and-bounds elements separately; record which element caused a mismatch. Do not silently normalize a metes-and-bounds description into a parcel number. “Same address” is not enough when the contract includes an easement, excluded parcel, mineral reservation, or attached exhibit.
The reviewer can identify missing exhibits and inconsistent identifiers. A title professional, surveyor, or attorney must determine the legal effect and required correction.
Primary sources: RCW 65.04.047, recorded-instrument cover sheets and RCW 65.04.050, indexing legal descriptions. These Washington provisions illustrate a recorder-evidence workflow; they are not a nationwide title standard.
**Professional disclaimer:** Informational only; not title, survey, conveyancing, or legal advice.