I have a not so hypothetical question.
Would/could a surveyor be considered negligent in their duties in the following situation?
1) Surveyor prepares subdivision plat, noting land to be conveyed to the Municipal Government as Common Area, which then gets deeded to the town via Warranty Deed by referring to the filed subdivision plat.
2) Two years later the same surveyor prepares subdivision plat for newer phase of same subdivision and includes that same area in a different 'Open Space Area', which then gets deeded to the HOA via Warranty Deed by referring to the filed subdivision plat.
Background:
-The two phases of the subdivision were developed by two different builders. The original builder went bankrupt.
-The closing attorney was the same in both closings. He was subsequently disbarred.
Obviously the HOA does not own this land, since you can't deed something to someone you don't already own. Only problem is that this land landlocks a much larger piece of land owned by the HOA, baking it basically worthless....
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Tim
On the second plat, the area in question should have been noted with ownership and deed reference, "Town of Apex, Deed Book 3, Page 1". That's the violation that the BOR will get interested in. I think the deed would be void and a Title Insurance Company would step in. The question in my mind is: Should the grantee have relied on the label on the plat of "open area" to ascertain marketable title?
Wouldn't this be clear and convincing evidence that the surveyor did not verify the current deeds? for the neighboring property anyway?
That would be a direct violation of our Standards in MA.... What are NC boundary standards? Are you required to research the neighbors deeds, as well as your locus? I show them on my plats...
I believe the board would be more interested in pursuing the Surveyor about a lack of research on his end.
As for monetary liability, from the facts you listed, I would be more inclined to pursue the lawyer, but more than likely they will pursue the owner, lawyer, and the surveyor.
3 violations of board rules in NC
1. Failing to protect the public. (Town and HOA)
2. Not doing proper research.
3. Creating an overlap.
There may be more when the plats examined.
There is no time limit for when the Board can go after a PLS in NC. Civil yes, Board no.
The Area is shown with a note that it was previously recorded as a map on BM XXX Page XXX but does not call out a specific owner. This whole area of our subdivision is a real mess. It also looks like they moved the rear lot lines of a bunch of properties on the same plat. I know there was an area of our subdivision where the Town did Quit Claim deeds to a bunch of homeowners because the Town ended up owning a bunch of land they though they did. I'm guessing that this is the same area. I'm just trying to treat this as a learning experience. I would put most of the blame on the attorney from what I can tell so far.. It looks to me like lots of the builders around here used him for closings (lowballer?). When I was digging into searching records, it seems like he had an awful lot of corrected deeds that he needed to file. Not a real attention to detail from what I can tell.
