I found one of my surveys was recorded by a 3rd party. The survey had been delivered to our client as a signed pdf with the surveyors certificate left blank. The intention was that the client was going to record an agreement with their neighbor before we recorded the survey. the survey shows the proposed agreement so i was searching to see if the agreement was recorded when instead i found my survey was recorded but no agreement had been recorded. It sounds like the lawyer for the neighbor is the person who went and got it recorded but with no signature on the certificate I was surprised that it was accepted by the recorder's office.?ÿ So I called the recorder's office because I thought they would be able to void the survey.?ÿ however the remedy that they recommended was that I could go in and sign the survey and they could rescan it. I rejected that plan so now I'm at a loss of what to do next.
Well, is it right?
Have a properly worded affidavit drawn up and filed (tied to) the subject tract stating that you did such and such but did not do so and so and therefore declare (insert what you really want to say).?ÿ That would put the world on notice that you did not finalize a survey and made no certification of value on the document that has already been recorded.
Is it a requirement for the survey to be signed by you before the recorder is allowed to accept it?
If the survey has not been signed it is not complete. Therefore it should hold zero liability to the survey. I??m confused as to why the office would record it in the first place.
I place notes on my surveys for this exact reason. The first note is a large ??preliminary? that is watermarked into the background for any survey I supply to a client with the intention to make changes.?ÿ
One of the other notes I have states, ??This survey is valid once signed and sealed by surveyor in blue ink.?
That is why Texas surveyors have a second stamp that states "Preliminary, this document shall not be recorded for any purpose"
Hope you got paid.........
A signed .pdf would not be recordable around here. You have to have a wet signature. That being said I have been presented by owners of property with signed surveys, which were performed after the WA recording act. They were expected to take it to the office and pay the fees and get it recorded.?ÿ
My question is: Why would you sign it if you didn't want it recorded?
I'm not sure that is totally correct. In Washington you can legally digitally stamp a document if you go through the correct procedures and have a 3rd party CA. That being said, I'm not sure the county would record it but they could.
Hundreds of surveyors have been held liable for unsigned or uncertified surveys, regardless of what has been said here. File an affidavit nullifying any implications that might be falsely inferred by the public.?ÿ
I agree with Holy Cow, paying special attention to recording the affidavit where it's tied to the recorded survey or in some other way will show up in the same title chain as the map does. You might need to consult with the recorded to see what sort of language in the affidavit will tie it to the property or the owners.?ÿ
Similar situation to you.
We had a signed survey supplied to the client changed.?ÿ They added some division lines on the parcel, then they placed a typed description (that was not correct) over the description page, photo copied it all, and recorded in the courthouse.
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We got a call asking why our survey did not close - it was one of the made up division parcels.?ÿ What we did was spell out in?ÿ an affidavit, that the survey was altered and that we had no liability for anything on the sheets.?ÿ We recorde that.?ÿ 5 years later we were hired to do the division lots properly (by the original client).?ÿ We charged him 2.5 times the normal rate.?ÿ He did not apologize, but also did not question the bill.?ÿ I no longer take calls from him.
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After that, company policy changed.?ÿ Wet stamps & original signatures no longer leave this office.?ÿ If you want a survey recorded, I record it and supply a copy.?ÿ I know that many of you can't do it that way, but in my little market it works.
Wait what? The guy submitted basically a forgery of your work and then had the balls to hire you some years later? That's hilarious.
You are 100% correct (according to my understanding of the law). But rather than clean .pdf's from us with digital signatures, they would rather degrade the quality by scanning...who knows why. I had a city actually ask for MYLARS the other day. I
The state law around digital signatures actually changed this past year or so.
I've seen a portion of one of my preliminary plans inserted as an exhibit into deeds. I only found out when another surveyor called looking for the whole plan and also saying that it didn't match the description, which didn't close.
yes my understanding is that they shouldn't record any survey without a wet signature on the stamp and on the certificate but the person I spoke to at the recorder's office didn't think that was true said something about the Washington state legislature changing the law. the survey shows a proposed agreement the intent was always to record the survey after the agreement was recorded between the client and the neighbor.
That is exactly what happened. He fancied himself a mortgage broker, and a small time realtor. We are in a small market, and what goes around comes around. Yes, he came crawling back. He knew that we knew. He paid up. We could have messed with his world, but chose not to.
Hard to stop people that use things for an exhibit, and/or record things as a deed attachment. We don't like it, but can't do a whole lot about it. When you record a survey that is different.
In Clark County, WA, at least, surveys are recorded in a unique set of books, and only after review by the County Surveyor. You can record a dinner napkin in the deed books as long as it is of the proper size and you pay the fee. Not so much for surveys and plats. Soooo.... someone could record an 8 1/2 x 11 copy of an unsigned survey check print in the deed books, but my responsibilities to RCW 58 are not complete until I've got something (on Arch C size) in the survey files.
Never release a preliminary doc without marking it as such. It can get you in front of the Board in some States.