76-3-302. Restrictions on recording instruments relating to land subject to surveying requirements. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), the county clerk and recorder of any county may not record any instrument that purports to transfer title to or possession of a parcel or tract of land that is required to be surveyed by this chapter unless the required certificate of survey or subdivision plat has been filed with the clerk and recorder and the instrument of transfer describes the parcel or tract by reference to the filed certificate or plat.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply when the parcel or tract to be transferred:

(a) is in a location in which the state does not have jurisdiction; or

(b) was created before July 1, 1973, and the instrument of transfer for the parcel or tract includes a reference to a previously recorded instrument of transfer or is accompanied by documents that, if recorded, would otherwise satisfy the requirements of this subsection. The reference or document must demonstrate that the parcel or tract existed before July 1, 1973.

(3) The reference or documents required in subsection (2) do not constitute a legal description of the property and may not be substituted for a legal description of the property.