Sections amended.

Survey and map by civil engineer.

How made. Scale and paper.

Detailed description.

Signatures, witnesses, etc.

Sections, how designated.

[No. 251.]

AN ACT to amend sections one and two of act number ninetyone of the Session Laws of eighteen hundred thirty-nine, entitled "An act to provide for the recording of town plats, and for vacating the same in certain cases," being compiler's sections three thousand three hundred seventy-two and three thousand three hundred seventy-three of the Compiled Laws of eighteen hundred ninety-seven, as last amended by act number two hundred ninety-seven of the Public Acts of nineteen hundred thirteen.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

SECTION 1. Sections one and two of act number ninety-one of the Session Laws of eighteen hundred thirty-nine, entitled "An act to provide for the recording of town plats, and for vacating the same in certain cases," being compiler's sections three thousand three hundred seventy-two and three thousand three hundred seventy-three of the Compiled Laws of eighteen hundred ninety-seven, as last amended by act number two hundred ninety-seven of the Public Acts of nineteen hundred thirteen, are hereby amended to read as follows:

SEC. 1. Whenever any city, village or addition thereto shall be laid or altered as hereinafter provided, or whenever any land shall be platted into lots or blocks, within this State, the proprietor or proprietors thereof shall cause a survey and a true map or plat thereof to be made by a civil engineer, surveyor or other competent person. Such map or plat shall in every case be made with India ink, or some other equally substantial and distinct method, and be made on a scale showing not more than two hundred feet to an inch, on sheets of good muslin-backed paper, eighteen inches by twenty-four inches in size, the paper shall be so pasted on muslin that it cannot be detached therefrom, and more than one plat shall not be made on one sheet. There shall be written or printed upon the paper on which said map or plat shall be made a full and detailed description of the land embraced in said map or plat, showing the township and range in which such land is situ ated and the sections and parts of sections platted, containing the name of the town, city, village or addition platted, the name or names of the proprietor or proprietors thereof, and of the engineer, surveyor or person making said map or plat, with the date. In all cases the caption, title and dedication of the plat must agree. The same shall be signed by such proprietor or proprietors and their wives, and engineer, surveyor or person making the same, and shall be witnessed and acknowledged by the owners, as deeds conveying lands are required to be witnessed and acknowledged. The sections and parts of sections platted shall also be designated by lines drawn upon such map or plat, with appropriate letters and figures, and in case of a subdivision of lots or blocks of a pre

of previous survey.

to be

town board

vious survey, the outlines of the original or previous lots or Subdivision blocks so subdivided shall be designated by lines upon said map or plat, and shall be marked with appropriate letters and figures in ink of a different color than that in which the plat is drawn. There shall also be on such map a plain designation of the cardinal points and a correct scale. Before such map or plat shall be approved by the Auditor General and before such map or plat shall be recorded by the register of deeds, the proprietor or proprietors thereof shall cause to be attached to said map or plat a certificate from the county Tax certificate treasurer whether there are any tax liens or titles held by the attached. State or by any individual against such piece or description of land described in such map or plat, and whether all taxes due thereon have been paid for the five years preceding the date of the execution of such plat, and in all cases where the taxes assessed and levied in any city are not returned when delinquent to the Auditor General, there shall be attached a similar certificate from the city treasurer as to the city taxes, and in the absence of such certificate the Auditor General shall not approve said map or plat until such certificate is secured and presented; and before such map or plat shall be approved by the Auditor General, and before such map or plat shall be recorded by the register of deeds, the proprietor or proprietors thereof shall cause to be attached to said map or Approval of plat a certificate of approval from the township board or the or council, city council, or the board of commissioners in municipalities etc. having a commission form of government, or the village council having jurisdiction over the lands so described in the said map or plat: Provided, That if said township board, city Proviso, council or village council refuse to approve said map or plat to approve. it shall notify in writing, within five days, the proprietor or proprietors, or their agents, of such non-approval, giving its reasons therefor, and such map or plat before being approved by the Auditor General and before being recorded as aforesaid, shall be delivered at the office of the county clerk and by Board to him presented to a board consisting of the judge of probate, county clerk and county treasurer of the county in which the lands so described in said map or plat are situated, or to the boards of county auditors in counties having such boards. It shall be the duty of said board whenever any map or plat is submitted to them to carefully examine the same for the purpose of determining whether or not the caption of said map or plat conflicts in any way with the title or caption of any other map or plat previously recorded in the office of the register of deeds of said county, and also for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the streets and alleys in such map or plat conform, in their opinion, to the streets and alleys of any adjoining map or plat heretofore recorded; and are so named that no name previously in use in the same city or village shall be made use of except in continuing a street or alley: Provided, Proviso, That nothing herein contained shall require the dedication of streets, etc. any other or further streets than those shown on the plat;

refusal

examine, etc.

When board to endorse approval.

Rejection approval.

or non

secretary of

board.

Meeting.

and for the purpose of determining whether or not the land included within the limits of said map or plat is suitable for platting purposes; and if, upon examination of said map or plat a majority of said board shall find that the title or caption does not conflict with that of any other map or plat, not vacated, recorded in such county, and the streets and alleys do conform to those of any adjoining map or plat theretofore recorded; and are so named that no name previously in use in the same city or village shall be made use of except in continuing a street or alley; and futher, that the land included in said map or plat is suitable for platting purposes, and that said map or plat conforms to the requirements of this act, the said board shall endorse its approval thereon by the signatures of a majority of said board, but shall otherwise reject the same. And if the map or plat is not approved, and rejected for not being in conformity with the requirements of this act, said board shall notify, in writing, within five days, the proprietor or proprietors, or their agents, of such rejection or non-approval, giving its reasons therefor. The judge of Chairman and probate and county clerk shall act as chairman and secretary respectively of said board, and whenever a map or plat has been delivered at the office of the county clerk, it shall be his duty, forthwith, to call a meeting of said board, to be held within ten days thereafter, for the purpose of disposing of Compensation. Such map or plat. The compensation of said board shall be fixed by the board of supervisors of the county and paid from the general fund of said county. In counties having boards of county auditors, such boards of county auditors shall exercise similar powers to those herein conferred upon the board composed of the probate judge, the county clerk and the Copy of map county treasurer. For the purpose of such approval by the Auditor General and recording with the register of deeds, the proprietor or proprietors shall cause to be made by a civil engineer, surveyor or other competent person, on the same scale and on paper of the same size and quality as that on which the map or plat is required to be made, an exact copy of said map or plat with detailed description or descriptions, signatures, witnesses, acknowledgment and certificate of county treasurer, or the county and city treasurer as the case may require; and it shall be the duty of the proprietor or proprie tors to cause said map or plat to be forwarded to the Auditor General for his approval, together with said copy thereof, and to deposit with the Auditor General a fee of four dollars for approving, filing and recording said map or plat. It shall be the duty of the Auditor General of the State to approve said map or plat when same shall conform in his opinion to the requirements of this act, and pay over three dollars of said sum to the State Treasurer to be credited to the general fund and to forward the remaining sum of one dollar to the register of deeds as the registration fee as hereinafter provided. In case such map or plat is approved by the Auditor General of the State he shall immediately forward said map

When county

auditors to act.

for approval.

To be for

warded to auditor

general.

Fee.

Approval by auditor general.

Fees, to

whom paid.

fee returned.

of non

auditor

general.

second copy

or plat, approved, with certificate and date of approval inscribed thereon, to the register of deeds in the proper county, and shall pay over to said register of deeds the one dollar fee herein provided for at such time when said register of deeds shall have furnished the Auditor General of the State a Record of map. proper certificate of recording said map or plat. In case said map or plat is not approved by the Auditor General the sum of one dollar herein specified as registration fee shall be re- When record turned to the proprietor or proprietors of said map or plat; but in no case shall the three dollars which has been turned into the State treasury and credited to the general fund be returned. If for any reason the Auditor General of the State does not approve the said map or plat, he shall notify in writ- Notification ing the proprietor or proprietors, or their agents, and give his approval. reason therefor. It shall be the duty of the Auditor General Duty of of the State to compare the copy of said map or plat with the map or plat, and transcribe on said copy a certificate of the recording of said map or plat forwarded by the register of deeds in the county where said map or plat is recorded, and inscribe on said copy of said map or plat a certificate of the Auditor General of the State, giving the date of filing of said copy and that the same is a true copy of the said map or plat forwarded to the register of deeds for recording: Provided, Proviso, That in case the said proprietor or proprietors of said map or of map. plat desire to retain a copy of said map or plat the said proprietor or proprietors shall forward a second exact copy of said map or plat upon paper of the same kind and quality or upon tracing linen, and otherwise in all respects as heretofore provided for the forwarding of the first copy of said map or plat, to the Auditor General who shall return the same to said proprietor or proprietors without additional cost, with a certificate inscribed thereon that the said copy is a true and exact copy of the said map or plat forwarded to the register of deeds for record, and that there is also a true copy of said map or plat on file in the office of the Auditor General of the State as provided by this act : Provided further, That all Further plats hereafter made in this State including plats of land proviso. owned or controlled by summer resort associations, and all after made. other plats made by any other person, association or corporation shall be approved, filed and recorded in the manner provided in this section. The Auditor General shall keep an in- Index. dex in which he shall enter alphabetically the name of every town, city, village and addition, a copy of record of the map or plat of which shall be filed in his office, the date of filing the same, and whatever else he may think necessary to facilitate reference thereto. The said register upon receipt of said Register to map or plat from the Auditor General of the State, shall in book. fasten the said map or plat in a book of the proper size for such paper so that it shall not be folded, which book shall be strongly bound in leather and provided at the expense of the said county, and such copy so fastened in said book shall be Deemed to held and taken to be a record of the said map or plat, with

plats here

fasten map

be record.

Penalty for wilful viola

tion.

Liability

for damages.

Certificate of record.

Prima facie evidence.

like effect as if the said map or plat has been actually transcribed by said register in a book in his office, and for any wilful violation of this provision by a register of deeds he shall be liable to a penalty of ten dollars, and shall also be liable to pay all damages which any person may sustain by reason thereof, to be recovered in an action of trespass on the case. The register shall certify on such map or plat the time when it was recorded as aforesaid, with reference to the book or Index of maps. page where recorded. He shall note on the record the time when made, and shall keep a separate index of maps or plats, in which he shall enter alphabetically the name of every town, city, village or addition, the map or plat of which shall be recorded, by him, with a reference to the book and page where the same shall be recorded. The register of deeds, after recording said map or plat as herein provided, and before he shall be entitled to the one dollar registration fee to be forwarded by the Auditor General of the State as herein provided, shall cause to be furnished the Auditor General of the State a proper certificate of the recording of said map or plat upon such blank form which may be forwarded by the Auditor General of the State. The map or plat, with the certificate of record endorsed thereon, the record thereof made as aforesaid, or a properly certified transcript of such record, shall be received in all courts in this State as prima facie evidence of the making and recording of such map or plat in conformity with the provisions of this act, and the copy of such recorded map or plat filed or in the Auditor General's office, or a properly certified transcript thereof, shall be received in all courts of the State as prima facie evidence of the above matters, and also the filing of said copy in the Auditor General's office. If any person or persons shall sell and convey any lot or lots within any such town, city, village or addition, by reference to such plat before the map or plat thereof shall be recorded and the copy of the record thereof filed as aforesaid, he or they shall forfeit and pay the sum of ten dollars for each lot so sold. For all services by this act required to be perCompensation formed by a register of deeds in respect to any such map or plat brought into his office, for record, the said register shall be entitled to receive the sum of one dollar, which shall be Proviso, plat paid as herein provided: Provided, That in all cases where the proprietor or proprietors of any piece or pieces of land shall have caused the same to be laid out and platted as a city, town, village, or as an addition to a city, town, or village, or where the proprietors have caused such city, town or village lots to be deeded by metes and bounds and courses and have failed or neglected to have a plat thereof made and recorded as provided by this act, the supervisor or assessor of the township, city or village in which such land is situated shall, when authorized by the township board of such township or by the common council or the board of trustees of such city or vil lage, cause a map or plat of said city, town, village or addition to be made under his hand and seal, properly acknowl

Sale of lot

before record of plat.

Penalty.

of register.

for assess

ment, etc.,

of taxes.