Currently under contract to provide an ALTA survey on a 2.7 acre parcel.
1995, sellers acquire property. Their deed included the 1950's/1960's era descriptions of 4 contiguous parcels that together are the current day 2.7 acre parcel. The parcel descriptions call for each other and fit with no gaps or overlaps. Upon this transaction, buyers had a boundary survey which retraced the outer extents of the parcels. This survey makes no reference to the 4 parcels internal tract lines, and includes no ties to internal lines or monuments. This survey is not found or referenced on the record. The owners occupied and used the 4 parcels as a single tract, constructing a self-storage facility.
2015, seller wishes to expand the office facilities; the new improvements require permitting. A new survey is completed (by the same surveyor as in 1995). Survey is essentially unchanged from 1995. Seller records a deed from themselves to themselves, using the same descriptions of 4 parcels as from the 1995 deed, adding the note, "The Purpose of this Deed is to combine the four separate tax parcels in this deed into a single tax parcel". County Appraisal Office maps are updated appropriately and reflect a single contiguous parcel. Again, the boundary survey is not recorded nor referenced on record.
2019, State DOT completes extensive improvements around this parcel. Original road access is completely removed, new ROW is acquired from an adjoining parcel and new access to subject parcel is constructed. While I can't be certain, my feeling from reviewing the DOT ROW maps is that the surveyor must have relied on the 2015 survey when determining boundaries and ROW's. Their maps make no reference to the 4 original parcels and their found monuments and deed lines mirror that of the 2015/1995 survey.
2022, seller enters under contract and buyer contracts me to perform an ALTA. I've located all evidence of the 2015/1995 surveys. I've located most of the DOT monuments. All found within expectations, there are no visible encroachments or occupation issues. Beyond this, I have been unable to locate any additional evidence of the original 4 parcels, though have not ruled it out, I am returning for a final search today.
My questions surround ALTA Standards Section 6, B, i and ii.
- Would my survey be considered an original survey? Can I prepare a new contiguous legal description and simply make reference to the 2015 deed (describing 4 parcels) as the "parent tract"?
- If not, does the ALTA need to include the original 4 descriptions, my new combined description, and a note explaining why I've prepared a new description (which I believe would say to combine these parcels?)
- How (or should I) make any reference to the unrecorded 1995/2015 surveys that appear to have been relied on by DOT and the owners as the boundary?
- What obligations do I have to mapping and or monumenting the original 4 parcel lines?
If you've made it this far, I am already grateful. Any advice or guidance from the Surveyor Connect brain trust is valued and appreciated.
As with many questions, the answer is likely to depend on practices and rules in the jurisdiction.
1. I would not consider you to be the original surveyor for the consolidated lots, only perpetuating the unrecorded surveys.
2. If the 4 tracts were owned by the same person, free & clear, the owner of the 4 tracts have the right to consolidate into one contiguous tract. If that task was completed and a new description of the consolidated lot has been recorded as part of the title, you will not need to show the individual tracts on your survey. If there were no new description recorded, I'd play it safe and show the 4 tracts on the ALTA in a lighter line weight.
3. If you have access to the unrecorded surveys, add the surveys in your references as "Plat of Survey by John W. Doe, dated XX/XX/1995 (unrecorded)".
4. If the descriptions of the original 4 tracts are still part of the current deed, I lean toward full responsibility of preserving and/or reestablishing the corners. If the current deed is one contiguous description, I feel you should only responsible to preserve the corners for the current title. Not being licensed in your state (?), I would have to agree with @bill93 and defer to the local/state jurisdiction.
Good Luck.
Most ALTA Survey I have done required me to prepare a new description. The title work is revised to reflect what I have found, the title examiner has found and what the attorney wants to say about resolving them. Send your title company the new description, that may resolve monumentation and old survey issues.
I agree with what Kevin says above.
As far as the description goes, I usually include the record description, which if I'm understanding correctly, is the 4 parcels.?ÿ Then I'll have a survey description, which will follow my BD around the total parcel.
In my area combining tax lots is a procedural thing, not a survey matter. You fill out a form at the tax assessors office. But once you've combined them they can't be split again, except by a re-subdivision.?ÿ
The original lines continue to exist as a basis for determining boundary, but not as title lines.
I??m assuming the property description in the title commitment describes the four original parcels separately? If the property is locatable using that description (and all the parcels are contiguous with no overlaps or anything troubling, as you say, I wouldn??t waste my time writing a new description. Around here we don??t create a new description unless there are some major discrepancies or the old description is inadequate.
Does the client WANT the interior corners set? If not, I wouldn??t set them. Sound like the property is retractable already without them and you are going to set what was missing on the overall perimeter.
If the property is described as four parcels in the title, I would, however graphically depict all four parcels with their record dimensions and POBs labeled, and label each once ??Parcel 1, Parcel 2 etc? or whatever names the commitment describes them by. I might not even put the ??measured? bearings on the interior lines, only the exterior, depending how busy the survey is.?ÿ
@kevin-hines Thank you for the response. I realized that calling this "combination description" an original survey is a bit of stretch. Frankly, I was just trying to avoid having to resolve and remonument the internal lines, as they have not been acknowledged or respected in 40+ years. A couple of them fall inside the metal self-storage buildings that were constructed in 1995. If they had recorded a new description of the parcel combination this entire mess could have been avoided.
@oldpacer This is the advice I needed. I called the closing attorney and explained the situation as I outlined in my original post.. they absolutely agreed and expressed an intention to revise the title commitment. They agreed there was no point in working to redescribe or monument the 4 original parcels. They mentioned the possibility of me signing an affidavit essentially saying that the 4 original parcels are one and the same as the 2015 survey description, which is correct.
@norman-oklahoma It is the same process here, however the problem arised as even though the 4 parcels are recognized as having been combined, there was no description of it the new combined parcel on the record.
@armichael Thank you for the response. Your comment "Does the client WANT the interior corners set?" is essentially what started this, as I am confident the client nor anyone else, including a future surveyor, would want these unrecognized and unrespected internal lines monumented with set corners. However, it's my interpretation of minimum standards is that I am obligated to set them, even if no one wants them. I also appreciate you mentioning that you might not show record data on the old lines, "depending on how busy the survey is". Sometimes I have omitted what might be semi-useful information just to make the more important features of the map more readable.. but I always wonder if the correct call is to always squeeze as much in as possible.
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The resolution here came after speaking with the attorney.. the plan is now for me to record a boundary survey map showing and referencing the original 4 parcels. That done, they will update the title commitment with this new description and I will deliver the ALTA based on that.
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Thank you all.
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