HUGHES, J.

This is an appeal from a district court's award of damages for the condemnation and subsequent demolition of a home. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In September of 2005 the City of Baton Rouge/Parish of Hast Baton Rouge ("City/Parish") instituted a condemnation proceeding seeking to condemn and demolish a house located at 840 South 12th Street in Baton Rouge, pursuant to LSA-R.S. 33:4761, et seq. The City/Parish asserted in the proceeding that the house was subject to condemnation, citing the following primary reasons: the roof was 50% deteriorated; the rafters, ceiling joists, walls, and floors were 25% deteriorated; it was "open to unauthorized persons;" and conditions existed therein that "could cause loss or damage to persons in or around [the] premises." Following notice to the record owner of the property, Ruby McClendon, through a curator pursuant to LSA-R.S. 33:4767, and after a public hearing, the City/Parish Metropolitan Council decreed that the building at issue was "in a dilapidated and dangerous condition which endangers the public welfare to such an extent that repairs must be made and defects corrected as specified." Upon failure of the owner to "repair, remove or demolish said building" within ten days from the October 12, 2005 decision, the Department of Public Works was "instructed to proceed with removal and demolition at [the] owner's expense in accordance with law." The subject building was demolished by the Department of Public Works on January 18, 2006.

Anthony Leroy Evans and Cornell Legarde filed the instant suit for damages on January 18, 2007 (via facsimile), contending they were the lawful owners of the property located at 840 South 12th Street, by virtue of a donation in their favor from Ruby McClendon on February 9, 2004, and that their property was destroyed by the City/Parish without prior notice to them. In their petition, the plaintiffs stated that, on January 9, 2007, they received a notice from the City/Parish of a condemnation proceeding instituted as to property located at 236 South 12th Street, but that they did not own that particular property. The City/Parish and its insurer were made defendants to the suit, and in response to the suit, the City/Parish asserted that the official record of both the parish clerk of court and tax assessor showed that Ruby McClendon was the owner of the 840 South 12th Street property at all pertinent times.

During the April 28, 2010 trial of this matter, the February 9, 2004 act of donation from Ruby McClendon to the plaintiffs was introduced into evidence. It stated Ms. McClendon's intent to donate the property located at "840 South 12th Street" to the plaintiffs, and contained the following legal description for the donated property:

The act of sale by which Ms. McClendon acquired the 840 South 12th Street property was also introduced into evidence, showing that United Companies Lending Corporation conveyed the property to Ms. McClendon on February 19, 1992; the legal description of the property contained therein was as follows:

A January 9, 1989 act of sale was also introduced at the trial of this matter, which conveyed the property located at 236 South 12th Street to Ms. McClendon from L.B. Young and Aline Russell Young; the legal description of that property was stated therein as follows:

At the conclusion of the trial, the district court judge issued oral reasons for judgment, wherein he stated that the issues to be resolved by the court were: (1) who owned the property; (2) whether the owners had proper notice of the demolition; and (3) if they did not, what damages the plaintiffs may have suffered. The court acknowledged the pertinent conveyance records had been submitted into evidence, but stated: "[N]either plaintiff[s] nor the defense brought anyone in to verify what is the accurate description of the property to show that the City did or did not demolish the house that they intended to demolish." The court also noted with interest that the City/Parish actually demolished the houses at both 236 South 12th Street and 840 South 12th Street. The court further stated that he found evidence presented by the defense deficient with respect to the reasons why the house had been declared condemned and as to whether the curator for Ms. McClendon had fulfilled her duties as a curator. The court also questioned whether the City/Parish Metropolitan Council's condemnation decree was in valid form, since no signature was affixed thereto. The court then concluded: that the defendants had not established that either the plaintiffs or Ms. McClendon received proper notice of the condemnation; that, as a result, the City/Parish was liable for demolishing the home at 840 South 12th Street; and that the plaintiffs were entitled to damages in the amount of $25,000.00 for the demolition of the home at 840 South 12th Street. A judgment was signed in accordance with the court's decision on May 7, 2010. The City/Parish appealed this judgment.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

Condemnation Procedure

The governing authority of any municipality may condemn and cause to be demolished or removed any building or structure within the parish or municipality when it is in a dilapidated and dangerous condition, which endangers the public welfare. LSA-R.S. 33:4761. Before any building or structure may be condemned, a written report recommending the demolition or removal of the building must be signed and submitted by a city official or other person authorized to act in such matters. Notice must then be served on "the owner" of the building or structure, requiring him to show cause at a meeting of the governing authority why the building or structure should not be condemned. See LSA-R.S. 33:4762(A).

If, after the hearing, in the opinion of the governing authority the facts justify it, an order shall be entered condemning the building and ordering that it be demolished or removed within a certain delay. If repairs will correct the dilapidated, dangerous, or unsafe condition, the governing authority may grant the owner the option of making such repairs, but in such a case the general nature or extent of the repairs to be made, the time thereof, and the defects to be corrected shall be specified in the decision of the governing body. The decision and order of the governing authority shall be in writing and shall be final unless appealed from within five days. See LSA-R.S. 33:4763. Prior to the demolition or removal of the building or structure by the municipality, notice shall be served on the owner, his agent, or upon any attorney appointed to represent the owner, and on any occupant of the building, if any, giving the time when work will begin upon the demolition or removal of the building or structure. In the event the owner or occupant of the building or structure fails or refuses to comply with the decision of the governing authority and fails to appeal therefrom within the legal delay provided, the governing authority may proceed with the demolition or removal of the condemned building or structure. The governing authority is not liable for any damages resulting from the demolition of the building or structure if "all procedural protections and substantive restraints have been adhered to." See LSA-R.S. 33:4765(B), (C), and (E).

In the instant case, the plaintiffs contend that they were "the owner[s]" of the property located at 840 South 12th Street in Baton Rouge and were entitled to notice of the condemnation proceeding, pursuant to LSA-R.S. 33:4762, but that the City/Parish did not notify them as required by law. Nevertheless, in order to prevail in this suit, the plaintiffs first had the burden to prove they were in fact "the owner[s]" of the property in question.1

The Public Records Doctrine

The Louisiana public records doctrine generally expresses a public policy that an interest in real estate must be recorded in order to affect third persons. Simply put, an instrument in writing affecting immovable property that is not recorded is null and void except between the parties.2 Cimarex Energy Co. v. Mauboules, 2009-1170, p. 18 (La.4/9/10), 40 So.3d 931, 943. The public records doctrine has been described as a negative doctrine because it does not create rights, but rather, denies the effect of certain rights unless they are recorded. Id., 2009-1170 at p. 19, 40 So.3d at 944. In explaining the negative nature of the doctrine, the Louisiana Supreme Court has stated that third persons are not allowed to rely on what is contained in the public records, but can rely on the absence from the public records of those interests that are required to be recorded. The primary focus of the public records doctrine is the protection of third persons against unrecorded interests. Id., 2009-1170 at p. 20, 40 So.3d at 944. Simply put, the rule that what is not recorded is not effective does not mean that what is recorded is effective in all events, despite any defect contained therein. See Id. Stated another way, the fact that a document is recorded does not mean that it is valid or that the person with record title is in fact the owner.3 See Peter S. Title, 1 Louisiana Practice Series, Louisiana Real Estate Transactions, § 8:16 (2d ed.).

In the instant case, a comparison of the property description contained in the donation from Ms. McClendon to the plaintiffs (which the plaintiffs contend was intended to convey title to the property located at 840 South 12th Street) with the acts of sale to Ms. McClendon of both the 840 South 12th Street property and the 236 South 12th Street property, reveals that the property description found in the donation to the plaintiffs appears to have been taken from the 236 South 12th Street act of sale rather than the 840 South 12th Street act of sale, even though the act of donation to the plaintiffs also references the municipal address of "840 South 12th Street."

The description of immovable property is very important, because in order for real estate to be conveyed or mortgaged, it must be sufficiently described. A description of real estate that is adequate for the purposes of sales or mortgages is often called its "legal" description. A legal description of property definitely locates the property and is sufficient to locate the property without oral testimony. The legal description of real estate in a sale, mortgage, or other instrument is usually derived from prior descriptions and surveys in the present owner's chain of title. See Louisiana Real Estate Transactions, § 2:1.

Official government surveys create, and do not merely identify, the boundaries. Where public lands were disposed of by the federal government to the State of Louisiana or to private persons according to lines appearing on the official plat of government surveys approved by the Surveyor General, the location of the lines as shown on the official plat is controlling. Louisiana Real Estate Transactions, § 2:5 (citing State v. Aucoin, 206 La. 787, 20 So.2d 136 (1944), and State v. Ward, 314 So.2d 383 (La.App. 3 Cir.), writ denied, 319 So.2d 440 (La.1975)).

Descriptions of property in Louisiana may be by reference to: (1) official governmental surveys, (2) metes and bounds,4 or (3) plats of subdivision. Legal descriptions often combine the three forms of descriptions. Common in urban areas is the description by reference to the plat of subdivision, by square or block and lot. Plats or maps of subdivisions are most commonly found in residential areas that have been subdivided by commercial developers, although platted subdivisions can be used in rural areas as well. When real estate has been platted by square or block and lot, according to a recorded plat or map as used frequently in metropolitan areas, a description by square or block and lot, followed by the subdivision, is a sufficient legal description without combining a metes and bounds description of the lot, since a conveyance of land according to a recorded plat or map incorporates by reference all of the notes, lines, descriptions, and landmarks of the plat. Louisiana Real Estate Transactions, §§ 2:13 and 2.14 (citing Cragin v. Powell, 128 U.S. 691, 9 S.Ct. 203, 32 L.Ed. 566 (1888)).

The municipal number or address of the improvements on real estate may not be a sufficient legal description for a sale or mortgage. See Louisiana Real Estate Transactions, § 2:21.5 However, we find it unnecessary to resolve this issue in order to dispose of the instant appeal. We conclude instead that the plaintiffs failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that they were in fact the record owners of the 840 South 12th Street property.

The plaintiffs produced an act of donation purporting to transfer ownership of the 840 South 12th Street property from Ms. McClendon to them. However, the legal description of the property donated was shown by parish conveyance records (namely, Ms. McClendon's title documents to both 840 and 236 South 12th Street, also introduced into evidence) to be the same property that she had acquired, and that had been denominated in her title, as 236 South 12th Street. This evidence was substantiated by the testimony of City/Parish Constructions Inspector, Mike Earnheart.

Mr. Earnheart testified that, at the time the home at issue herein was condemned and demolished, it was his job to inspect buildings to determine if they were "condemnable." After inspecting the 840 South 12th Street property on June 27, 2005, Mr. Earnheart looked up the property description on "a map" in his office. He then went to the parish tax assessor's office and obtained the owner's name from the assessor's records, based on the property description. He determined that the owner, at that time, of the 840 South 12th Street property was Ruby McClendon.

Based on the records he reviewed, Mr. Earnheart testified that he determined that the property description of the 840 South 12th Street property was "Lot 7, Square 349, Subdivision Hart." The property description contained in the February 19, 1992 act of sale, purporting to convey title to the 840 South 12th Street property to Ms. McClendon, stated in pertinent part: "SUBURB HART, ... LOT NUMBER SEVEN (7), SQUARE NUMBER ONE (1), or Three Hundred Forty-nine (349)...." In contrast, the property description contained in the January 9, 1989 act of sale purporting to convey title to the 236 South 12th Street property to Ms. McClendon, stated in pertinent part: "SUBURB YOUNG, ... LOT NUMBER EIGHT (8), of SQUARE NUMBER SIX (6), or TWO HUNDRED ELEVEN (211)...," and the property description in the donation by Ms. McClendon to the plaintiffs stated in pertinent part: "Subd. Young, ... LOT 8 SQ 6 or 211...."

Thus, we conclude that the record does not establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the plaintiffs owned the property located at 840 South 12th Street. Since the plaintiffs did not establish their ownership of the property, they were not entitled to recover any damages in connection with the demolition of the home located on the property. Consequently, the judgment rendered in favor of the plaintiffs was in error.6

CONCLUSION

For the reasons assigned herein, the judgment of the district court, in favor of Anthony Leroy Evans and Cornell Legarde and against the City of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge, is hereby reversed. All costs of this appeal are to be borne by the appellees, Anthony Leroy Evans and Cornell Legarde.

REVERSED.

GUIDRY, J., concurs.