How To View Your Plat

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Many property legal descriptions are described as a particular lot number on a recorded Plat. A recorded Plat is not a survey. The Plat will show your land dimensions, but will not show your house or other improvements located on your lot. All properties do not have recorded plats, however, for those properties that are described by reference to a recorded Plat, fortunately Maryland makes it easy to access that Plat. Below we take you through the process.

Step 1) Figure out what the Plat recording reference is for your property. Locate your deed in your records. Read the legal description in your deed for the plat reference.

Step 2) If you cannot locate your deed, then start at the SDAT website. Select your County and click “Street Address”. Then enter the number and street name. Be careful not to enter the street name suffix (Road, Street, Avenue, etc.) Click on the Search button. Locate your plat reference on the SDAT page. On the right side of the page, approximately one third of the way down is your plat reference.

Step 3) Once you have your plat reference, head over to the www.plats.net website. Choose your county by clicking on it. On the county page, you will see a list of a few links. You want to click on the link entitled "Your County, Land Survey, Subdivision and Condominium Plats". Then just follow the fields and links from there.

 “Plat” and “Survey” are two terms that are often used interchangeably in real estate. However there are differences between the two. Although they are both a depiction of a tract of land, and both show the dimensions of the property, a survey will show any dwellings, buildings or improvements (driveways, fences, pools) located on the property. A plat usually shows the dimensions of the property before the improvements are made. 

 Individual surveys of property are not a matter of public record. If you need a survey, you will need to contact a surveyor to prepare one.