Under the Subdivision Map Act, the creation of legal parcels prior to 1972 requires more than a deed referencing multiple lots—only a conveyance that separates a portion of land from contiguous property creates a new legal parcel. Cox v. City of Oakland, 17 Cal.5th 362 (2025).
A landowner sought a Certificate of Compliance from the City of Oakland, asserting that a pre-1972 deed referencing three lots (Lot 18, Lot 17, and a portion of Lot 16) created three separate legal parcels. The City denied the request, arguing that the deed conveyed a single parcel encompassing all three lots, as they were never separately conveyed. The trial court sided with the City, but the Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the deed did create separate parcels. The Supreme Court granted review to resolve the issue.
The Subdivision Map Act requires landowners to obtain local government approval and record a map before dividing property into smaller parcels for sale, lease, or financing. The Supreme Court focused on the meaning of “division of land” under section 66412.6(a) of the Map Act and harmonized it with the Map Act’s general definition of “subdivision” in section 66424.
The Court first emphasized that conveyance alone is not enough. Simply referencing multiple lots in a deed does not constitute a legal division of land into separate parcels. For a division to occur, there must be a conveyance that places a portion of land into separate ownership, distinct from contiguous lands. In addition, the Court noted that prior to 1972, a lot depicted on an antiquated map did not gain independent legal status unless it was actually conveyed separately from surrounding lands. The recordation of a map or the use of lot numbers in a deed served primarily as a descriptive tool, not as a legal division.
In this case, Lot 18 was always conveyed together with at least one other contiguous lot and was never separately conveyed. Therefore, it was never “created” as a distinct parcel under the Act.
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