If two adjacent owners approach a surveyor to help them accomplish a boundary line agreement, how do you do this? It's my understanding that this a common law doctrine with some states including statutory requirements that generally require the following:
1) the true line is unknown by both parties.
2) the property line between owners is in dispute.
3) the property owners agree to a specified line (with possible act of possession to said line).
If those are the facts, how do you help make that line "official" for both parties and the public in general? The only thing I could think of was have both parties sign and record affidavits stating the required facts to make a boundary line agreement along with a description of the line they agreed to.
Bow Tie Surveyor, post: 339123, member: 6939 wrote: If two adjacent owners approach a surveyor to help them accomplish a boundary line agreement, how do you do this? It's my understanding that this a common law doctrine with some states including statutory requirements that generally require the following:
1) the true line is unknown by both parties.
2) the property line between owners is in dispute.
3) the property owners agree to a specified line (with possible act of possession to said line).If those are the facts, how do you help make that line "official" for both parties and the public in general? The only thing I could think of was have both parties sign and record affidavits stating the required facts to make a boundary line agreement along with a description of the line they agreed to.
Write two new descriptions. Quit claim to each other.
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I always show the agreed boundary and make a set of descriptions for the adjoining land owners to deed to each other to resolve the title matters.
Warranty Deed from record owners.
0.02
I agree with the last two gentlemen. Record a Plat of the agreed line and swap deeds from both sides. If a corrective deed or just one side gives a deed, that will get messy. They both have to swap deeds to make it work.
The swaping of deeds is what I would call a boundary line adjustment. Supposedly with a Boundary Line Agreement no transfer of title takes place and there is no requirement for it to be in writing. What I am asking is how should a surveyor memorialize this unwritten agreement?
To me a boundary line agreement does not require new deeds. It's an agreement that has to take place where the line can't be retraced. So where they agree is where the line is. I survey it and it is recorded to show that both (all) parties agree that is where the line always was. I'm not establishing the old line at all. If I did then that is not an agreement they are exchanging property. Two new deeds.
Having exhausted all research and not being able to reestablish a line, we've found that having both parties physically agree to the line is very important. We will stake the new line, have both witness and agree to it. Then draft a plan describing said line and new lot/lots configuration. We then submit the plan through local planning. This may be a little drawn out, but it ensures that the plan is recorded and public record of the agreement is present moving forward.
We don't have such a creature, administratively speaking that is. Adjustments don't happen.
An agreed line can be used as the basis to create descriptions for deeds to be swapped, but that is it. We also don't have any of this foolishness of two adjoining lots growing/shrinking but still being labeled the same as they were prior to the action. If Lot 6 was 50' wide and 120' deep to start with, it will stay those dimensions forever unless a complete/signed off replat of two or more lots is created and filed. Then Lot 6 no longer exists whatsoever.
Around these parts (NC) a Boundary Line Agreement can be drafted by an attorney and recorded with the local Register of Deeds. Typically there is language to the effect that the true line between the parties can no longer be determine, and that the parties wish to resolve the matter by mutual agreement. The surveyor will prepare an exhibit or description of the new line, and both/all of the parties involved sign the document. Since the document is a clarification of title rather than a transfer of title, local planning authority over subdivisions or adjustments to tax parcels is generally avoided. Since this is a recorded document, it should appear during any future title search/deed research of the involved properties.
I find all of this rather bizarre as normally more than two adjacent properties would be involved, with the exception of city blocks with a street in the front and an alley in the back. Nobody worries about the city. In PLSSia a section line would normally be involved at one end of the line.
We run it through planning in PA only to ensure the plan gets recorded. I'd rather not have attorneys and planning involved but we have found this method to be cleaner. I've seen too many go no further than the survey and a lock box (unfortunately). One doesn't have to have surveys recorded in our state. Nothing has to be done during title transfer. We often find that deeds are carrying legal descriptions that hundreds of years old and extremely outdated. So not being able to reestablish old lines is fairly common in our area. When the last and only description is from the Patent and the described monument is a White Oak, it gets difficult to retrace the original line. We also see a lot of Bounded by descriptions. We then get both party's involved, establish the line in the field and record it. Locally, planning will just push these through as they understand our intent.
Holy Cow, post: 339166, member: 50 wrote: I find all of this rather bizarre as normally more than two adjacent properties would be involved, with the exception of city blocks with a street in the front and an alley in the back. Nobody worries about the city. In PLSSia a section line would normally be involved at one end of the line.
I can't speak for others, but in colonial states, nothing is EVER the same. Folks squatted, claimed their land, filed for warrants and sometimes a generation later, the survey was performed and a Patent was issued. Boundaries were established by encampments and settlements. Some of the descriptions very vague and a lot of the lots sold off of parent tracts were paced off handshake agreements.
Agreements resolve ambiguity. Adjustments transfer property.
When the boundary between 2 parcels cannot be recovered with sufficient certainty, the owners must have a solution outside of processes associated with subdividing land. When we attempt to use the wrong procedures we risk subjecting them to onerous regulation, fees and improvement costs. We also put them in a spot where the apparent fix is only one more stack of papers on the pile of ambiguous crap.
Some States have codified the agreement process. Others have established case law on the books and feel no need. Those where it is prohibited need a sound lobby effort by Professionals to make it right.
I've never worked in Fla. but in Co. we can "deposit" our surveys with the county clerk. Since the agreement does not involve title matters this seems to work well. Good surveyors always check for deposited surveys as a normal routine.
A deed swap would not work for me, as I am enrolled in a forestry improvement plan that is connected with the Auditor's Office in our county and their computer automatically kicks one out of the program if there is any change in the deed. That would mean I would lose my half-taxes status. So, another arrangement would have to be necessary.
I am embroiled in a conflict now (as a witness) involving a new neighbor who has moved in next to my land and my old neighbor's land. The new guy is suing the old neighbor (we all share a Section line border) over the Section line interpretation and is pushing it to court (no settlements). We all have spent a lot on resurveying. Three surveyors agree with our original survey pins and their two surveyors do not agree with any survey pins. They says they don't care about historical monumentation or documents. They do not agree with USGS survey lines. They place their own pins where they want by GPS. Our lands were surveyed and deeded many years ago with survey chains and transits. Our pins have been there since at least 1970 and the Section line was established in 1859. It's a mess.
suzie queue, post: 339189, member: 10574 wrote: A deed swap would not work for me, as I am enrolled in a forestry improvement plan that is connected with the Auditor's Office in our county and their computer automatically kicks one out of the program if there is any change in the deed. That would mean I would lose my half-taxes status. So, another arrangement would have to be necessary.
I am embroiled in a conflict now (as a witness) involving a new neighbor who has moved in next to my land and my old neighbor's land. The new guy is suing the old neighbor (we all share a Section line border) over the Section line interpretation and is pushing it to court (no settlements). We all have spent a lot on resurveying. Three surveyors agree with our original survey pins and their two surveyors do not agree with any survey pins. They says they don't care about historical monumentation or documents. They do not agree with USGS survey lines. They place their own pins where they want by GPS. Our lands were surveyed and deeded many years ago with survey chains and transits. Our pins have been there since at least 1970 and the Section line was established in 1859. It's a mess.
Is there any evidence of possession (fences, hedges, planting crops, etc) along the line in question? How big is the overlap between the two different section line interpretations?
This is an interesting subject. A Boundary Line Agreement can be used to avoid intense government requirements of review as in Boundary Line Adjustments. You can avoid an expensive Section breakdown survey to find the 1/16 boundary line between properties. I understand there are some problems with using an Agreement because Deeds may not be filed to reflect the Agreement. I popped the question to our County Attorney. His first reaction was they are no good. After a brief reflection he told me he would research it. That was a month ago and I haven't heard back from him. I've proposed Boundary Line Agreements as a continuing education topic at the next State Conference, but knowledgeable speakers on this subject are hard to find. I think they maybe a valuable tool to mediate boundary line disagreements.
My 2 cents
Scott McLain, post: 339124, member: 6271 wrote: Write two new descriptions. Quit claim to each other.
Absolutely the wrong approach for a boundary agreement. There is no change of title, therefore, no title documents should be used. This isn't a matter of title, it's a matter of boundary location.
The suggestion would be appropriate for a boundary adjustment.
JBS
A Harris, post: 339138, member: 81 wrote: I always show the agreed boundary and make a set of descriptions for the adjoining land owners to deed to each other to resolve the title matters.
Warranty Deed from record owners.
0.02
An document used for an exchange of title is inappropriate for a boundary agreement. I would NEVER recommend a Warranty Deed especially. When the location of the boundary is unknown or uncertain, how can the parties guarantee title to an exchange of property. The fix is worse than the problem.
JBS
Bow Tie Surveyor, post: 339151, member: 6939 wrote: The swaping of deeds is what I would call a boundary line adjustment. Supposedly with a Boundary Line Agreement no transfer of title takes place and there is no requirement for it to be in writing. What I am asking is how should a surveyor memorialize this unwritten agreement?
You are correct. A boundary agreement is not an agreement to exchange title to property. They already hold title to the boundary. The agreement simply resolves any ambiguity in the location of the boundary. The boundary agreement should take the form of an Owner's Affidavit (from both owners). I prefer to prepare a joint Owner's Affidavit which handles both owners' agreement in one document. Easier to find in the title record.
With a boundary agreement, I simply identify each owner of record for the two parcels in question, the descriptions of the parcels, the mailing address of both landowners, and the tax identification numbers of each parcel of record (these are all required per legislative statute). Don't forget the local recorder's requirements for margins and space to include their recording stamps as well as the statutory notary requirements. Same kind of regulations we deal with for a subdivision plat so I don't want to hear gasps of "you can't do that!" I realize that in some states, the preparation of the document has to be done by an attorney, not so where I work. The attorneys usually call me when they need the document prepared.
You'll also need a description of the agreed boundary. That typically will not include new parcel descriptions, but when the information is available to prepare new descriptions, I will sometimes include them. Based entirely upon the situation. Technically, the boundary agreement can only affect the common boundary between the two adjoining owners so it's inappropriate to include any other boundaries in the description.
There are a number of things that need to be considered here as well as there are differences in jurisdictional requirements. Where surveys are recorded as part of the title record, it is often appropriate for the owner affidavits to be included on the face of the survey. Where surveys are simply deposited in a public repository, the affidavits get recorded in the title record and the survey gets filed with a reference to the recorded affidavits. In a state where there is no public repository for surveys, prepare an exhibit to attach to the affidavit.
There's definitely not a one-size-fits-all approach for these agreements. They're each prepared individually and customized to the situation. I will typically include a paragraph where the owners "release, relinquish and quitclaim" any interest they have beyond the agreed boundary. That just keeps the title companies happy. Drives the GIS guys a little crazy because they can't plot a closed parcel from the description. But that's not the intent. All they need to do is index the affidavits against the properties so they show up in a title search. All I worry about is that the next surveyor will find the agreement and honor it so the boundary location doesn't get screwed up.
JBS