Error in survey? Who's responsible

Posted by: @phil-k

... they said I didn't need that piece so the owner deeded it back to themselves ...

This statement stands out to me. If the original grantor had deeded this 50' strip to you any effort to "deed it back to themselves' would have no effect. You, as the owner, would be the only party who could deed it back to them, or anyone else.

Nevertheless,?ÿ having a deed that says a property is 14.36 acres (Or 2.06 ac, or any other amount) doesn't ensure that the property will be exactly 14.36 acres. We don't have the deed in hand so I can't say for certain in your case, but generally there are other terms and dimensions quoted in most descriptions of land that supercede the area recital. When re-surveyed it is quite common for the area to be found to be other than what is quoted. A half acre or so is no real cause for alarm. That is why the area recital is at he bottom of the priority totem pole.

Since yours was the first parcel sold off you would have senior rights. If there is some overlapping of the property described you would get your, the adjoiners would get what's left. This sense the vendor no longer owned the property that he sold you, so he couldn't sell it to someone else.?ÿ The final sale of the "remaining land above you" would get what ever was left, more or less, and not some quoted acreage. This assumes that deeds were properly prepared, consummated, and recorded, etc. Also-if the land was surveyed and marked out at the time of sale the location of the stakes is likely the really important thing.?ÿ

If I were your surveyor, I'd collect all the various deeds together, as well as those of adjoiners to the original parent parcel, and resolve the history, reading the various clauses in the descriptions while giving them the priority that your state law dictates they get.?ÿ ?ÿ

?ÿ ?ÿ

If I am understanding you correctly you bought five acres and were required to have a 50' X 300' piece for access. Was that 50' X 300' originally deeded to you and was your deed recorded with that piece included? If so, the owner would be you and the former owner who deeded it to you can not deed it back to himself because he no longer owned it. Aside from that issue, the wording of the deed could come into play, how it was written will define what was conveyed, for instance, did it say 5 acres, 5.00 acres or something like 5 acres, more or less?

I was trying to keep it brief and hope to avoid too much confusion, the 50x300 was done in a subdivision plat done in 85 to access what was then a back lot. The owners when I bought my 5 had another deed made up the same day after me to have that 50x300 deed to them, my deed does not include that piece but it specifically says 5 acres not more or less but does give the bounds, the 5.45 acres was also spelled out in their deed and that gives exact square footage and says 5.45 with bounds. I just want to make sure I got what I paid for, no more no less but when you do the math it doesn't add up on paper but maybe for what was originally supposed to be the lot. Should I hire another surveyor or hire another title company or who or would it be a waste of time and money at this point?

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I attached the original map, I penciled in the lot sizes that are on the deeds except the 50x300?ÿ and drew the line across it but on all maps it shows it as part of my 5 acres, it only gives that dimension on that deed and is deeded to original owner

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Thank you?ÿ

So if you look at the map when C&D were separated from lot B that supposed left 10.24 with the 50x300 piece, but the town discontinued part of the road at top left and that also went to the lot left to give them 5.45 I assume. But if you just figure those two lots there should be 10.45 including the .21 at top left AND the 50x300 unless I am totally misunderstanding this whole map

Unfortunately the original surveyor has passed on, his son is still working for a survey company and I did speak to him briefly and he said he will look it over but that I have 5 acres in my deed so that's what I have, doesn't really answer the question though of how 4 lots totaled up can have more land deeded than in the survey, also all of the deeds reference back to the 1985 map, nobody has had an actual survey since my 5 acres was split off in 2000.

If my lot adds up to 5 acres I'm good and have nothing to complain about I just don't see how it adds up to that and I don't want to have less than I paid for.

There is a huge difference between a deed that says "containing an intended 5.00 acres" and one that merely says "containing 5 acres, more or less."

The poster's forum registration says Maine, which could have differing rules from some other state.

BTW it says licensed in Maine, which is undoubtedly an error to be corrected.

As noted by the experts above, having the exact wording of the deeds and the order they were made/filed is essential to proper interpretation.

Are there survey monuments in place? In nearly every jurisdiction and in most cases, monuments that have been relied on trump details of the description, including area.

Yes there are pins in place everywhere except top left of my corner the surveyor said a tree was there so he notched and painted it, reads as such in the deed also. All of the deeds have been transferred through the many owners over the years and just repeat the boundaries of 1985 other than my piece.

I just want to know I got what I paid for and what was deeded to me at this point, really set me off when the original title company/lawyer said "well it's close enough".

What should I do then?
Should I get it re surveyed to determine my acreage since it says 5 acre lot and does not say more or less?

It's impossible to give any meaningful advice without reading your deed and seeing a copy of any plat called for in the deed.

It was a piece originally to access the remaining back lot of 10.24 ac in between 2 lots that I bought 5 of but the owner and myself went to the town a few times and convinced them I could put my driveway on what they called a back road since it already had houses built on other lands. So the original survey to split the 5 acres showed the 50x300 as part of mine but when my deed was written that portion was not included, the original owner had a new deed the same day written to convey the 50x300 from them to them as it reads in the deed so I never actually owned it but i believe the survey should have been redone to make up for my losing that piece of land. Supposedly they sold that 50x300 with one of the 2.06 ac lot but I cant find it in any deed and its sold 4 times since 2000.

This sounds like a contractual problem rather than a survey or title problem, in that it is clear what you own but you don't feel it equitably fulfills the sale contract.

But you haven't made it clear whether your deed was for 5.0 acres defined similarly to "the south 5 acres of xxxx" or whether it was for a parcel defined by measurements and monuments and being about 5 acres.Big difference legally. Does the deed refer to the survey?

People don't deed property from and to identical names. Perhaps it was one of the common deeds from man to husband and wife or from tenants in common to giving right of survivorship?

Pins are good. Hire a surveyor. I think your questions warrant an expert opinion from someone with all the facts. If you provided all the facts here, I am guessing that we would provide you with an expert opinion, we like to do that.

The keys are: Deeds, their exact wording; their date (recording date perhaps, dont know if Maine is a race state); and the survey map relating to the pins that were set.

Yes my deed refers to the 1985 survey and my deed says 5 aacres does not say more or less,I did finally speak with the surveyor yesterday who's father did that survey and map and he simply said that my deed says I have 5 acres so I have 5 acres no more no less, he didn't want to answer why then a 14.26 acre subdivided into 4 lots then adds up to 14.9 acres when sold he just went back to what my deed says.
I'm not sure what I'm missing here, is it possible to sell more land than what you actually have?

I have the copy of the deed for the 50x300, , it says "warranty deed R.C and E.C. paid, grant to R.C. and E.C. with warranty covenants as joint tenants bounded and described as follows" then describes that 50x300 strip.

I mean it could be I have 5 acres of land but if you do simple math on the 4 lots it doesn't add up, someone is short and I don't believe it is the two 2 acre lots

I've run out he dimensions of your plat. There is some misclosure attributable to the bearings being to the nearest minute. Not an problem issue, I could wiggle it in with a half our of effort. The area of the individual parcels are as annotated, but he area of the overall parcel comes out to 14.915 acres, which is the sum of the individual acreages - notwithstanding 0.01 acre of rounding error. So the only problem, on paper, is the 14.36 acre parent parcel area quotation.

Nevertheless, what you own is what is enclosed by the monuments that were set.

So I guessed right on the transfer from RC and EC to make it joint tenants.

I would interpret that to say what you bought is defined by the iron rods, and the 5 acres is just a round number that may or may n ot have been carefully computed.

If the deed had said you were buying 5.00 acres to be carved out of a larger parcel, the surveyor would have computed the corner locations to give that area. That is different from buying a parcel that is already described and monumented and called a round number of acres.

If I find time, I hope to compute the area defined by the deed's distances and bearings.

Thank you Bill

Thanks Norman.
Yes that's what the math comes out to adding the lots up that has been my issue, seems like someone should have picked up on it long before now