Does any one here know of a successful prosecution for destruction of a survey monument?

No.?ÿ

I would think that a picture or video of the neighbor actually removing or destroying it would be crucial toward any prosecutor taking on this case. Hearsay is not going to be enough evidence.?ÿ If this type if evidence exists, contact the local prosecuting attorney and see what they say.?ÿ

I am not familiar with the 17.40.020 reference.?ÿ

I remember reading once; that an engineer lost his license because he didn't provide for replacement of monuments destroyed on a project he designed. But I can't find it right now...

As for your client, it's going to be tough to get the neighbor to pay: does he have solid proof that the neighbor pulled the corner? If he does, then he'll need to hire someone to replace it and then hire an attorney to sue him for these expenses.

I don't know of anyone going through all of this; let alone successfully prosecuted. But you might contact Bob Zierman and see what he has to say.

Good Luck! and let us know what you find out... ?????ÿ

@daniel-ralph

I dont think the neighbor denied it to the cops, in fact he probably admitted to it judging by past experience. He thinks it is his property (perhaps he is delusional?).

@dougie

Just curious. I told my client that if they care they need to move to civil courts, and they know that. They were just asking if I knew of any jurisdiction that had proceeded on this. The police and city are apparently willing (the guy is blocking fire access), but it is uncharted territory.

I would think the State Board would enforce this law more than the local police.?ÿ I don't think a Judge would get re-elected in my area if they fine a landowner for pulling a monument on their property. Maybe a monument on public land.

Double rod the corner when you reset it, drive your normal rod in the ground, then a shorter rod right on top of it. They will pull the shorter rod, but they wont know about the one under it.

I had a situation once where the neighbor pulled all the bars we set along the line.?ÿ He ended up getting away with it.

My client had been given a deed saying he was obtaining something like the east half of the north half of the northwest quarter of the section.?ÿ That is the line I monumented.?ÿ The neighbor pulled all the bars we set.?ÿ This battle went to court.?ÿ The seller who had sold to my buyer and also to the neighbor testified on behalf of the neighbor.?ÿ He declared that he had had a deed drawn up with the words I listed above BUT he had told the buyer (my client) what you really get is from up there on the north, down to here, across this pond dam to the other side, then up to there on the south.?ÿ He said he had made it clear that was what the buyer was to get no matter what the deed said.?ÿ The buyer, not knowing anything about deeds, said OK.?ÿ A couple years later he thought the neighbor was using some of his ground so he had me locate the line based on the deed.?ÿ The judge decided the neighbor actually owned to the made up series of lines as testified to by the seller to both parties rather than to what their deeds said they owned.?ÿ There were no fences or other clear signs of where the property split might be.

@scott-ellis

Good idea about the two rods. The state board has no jurisdiction here. And that is interesting about the judge...if your neighbor paid for a survey and you pulled the corner, I would think you caused loss. But, not my judgement to make.

@holy-cow

And that is why going to the judge is always a gamble...

@holy-cow

Wow! I was just on a trial where the Developer testified he set the monuments that we were disputing and told the buyer that was where his property was. The monuments are over 100 feet away from where the deeds describe. The Judge hasn't issued a decision yet. This could be very interesting.

I agree about two markers or at least a difficult one to pull - in these cases I have set a forming pin with the holes in it and put nails in every hole - when driven in it catches the ground and they fit a 5/8 cap pretty good - you could also use a large pipe and make the holes for the cross pins, if the ground is softer

Bernstein makes a system that has wire coils that are driven out of the bottom locking the pin in place - they work great as I used some for a monitoring project - the driving kit is about $140 and the pin is $20

Once the Survey record is filed, try explaining that the mark just perpetuates the official survey, they might not try to pull the marker again?ÿ

the more effort put in will be rewarded - maybe even set more markers along the line below grade too

@holy-cow

The Judge is not wrong given the facts you posted.

@dave-karoly

The written deed holds over parole evidence...or why have a written deed? Am I wrong there? Isn't the whole statute of frauds idea about just that?

The judge must have believed that the buyer agreed to the spoken interpretation of the deed at the time of the sale? (I assume that is the key fact here.)

@rkinnie

Pulling corners is silly. Might as well stick your head in the sand. I will have a map with calls to every little thing along the line, so it won't matter. I would have laughed if it was my neighbor...and poured a concrete monument at 10 at night just for fun.

My pin and plat was the subject of three lawsuits from 2005 to 2009. In one, Hawley v mowatt the jury found and the court ruled that where I had placed my pin constitutes the property corner regardless of the fact that the neighbor moved it 5 feet to add room on his 3 story addition, and, very interestingly, despite two other surveyors claiming that because of their better calculations one thought it should move 0.3 feet and another thought it should move 0.9 feet, (touchscreen corners) so my client the plaintiff won the lawsuit and my monument prevailed because it was the first set in the pincushions, even though I was not the original subdivided.

This summer a neighbor pulled my pin and the client filed a sheriff's report, but don't think it went any furthet