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A reason NOT to hold monuments
Mine is different than Larry’s. I just did a project where the tract originates in 1920 as an affidavit of use and possession. Fun already, right?
Next is someone in the 30’s attempts to describe this tract. Bounded on the west, south and east by railroads and the north by a subdivision originating in 1910. Awesome I know.
Then, the description adds one of the lots from the subdivision to the north. Better and better.
Then, a CE in 1948 surveys the tract and it’s not ever recorded (but I end up with a copy) and he sets IP’s at many corners.
Fast forward 35 years and another surveyor retraces the tract (not recorded but I get a copy of the map) and recovers 1 1/4″ iron pipes at May corners and sets a few of his corners.
Fast forward 30 years and I show up. We find some of the 1948 corners, one of the 1982 corners, and some other objects that I don’t know where they came from.
Back up 25 years and a survey by the 82 surveyor surveys the tract to the west and finds the ’48 corners he found 5 years earlier destroyed. He set 1/2″ square rods. Move forward another 3 years and he comes back and finds the same corners destroyed and sets 2″ iron pipes 4′ long up 1′ where the corners were before.
Except, he busts one of them. It’s .8 feet short in a 13′ leg.
Now, two of the three 2″ pipes fit well. I know the offending pipe is a come lately corner and was put in good faith and he didn’t mean to make the mistake, but I can prove he did. I’m not hating on the guy, but the pipe was wrong. I set a new corner.
Had I not been able to prove the genesis of that pipe, I probably would have held the pipe as the corner but armed with the eveolution of that corners objects, I ignored the 2″ pipe and set my corner. Is it a pin cushion, maybe. Should I have just held the pipe as I can prove it was set by a surveyor 20 years ago wrong, maybe. I didn’t.
As with anything it depends but I’m ready to see what others say about this issue as well. The most current deed I had forth is project was from 1948. Flame on fellas. 🙂
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7 Replies
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No flames here. Sometimes you just have to do what your heart tells you to do to make things right. And, you will find that you are not consistent with yourself. That is, one time you will go in one direction and at some point later you will take an opposite approach to what appears to be the same problem. Get used to it.
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“Better and better. I distrust a close-mouthed man. He generally picks the wrong time to talk and says the wrong things. Talking’s something you can’t do judiciously, unless you keep in practice.” -Kasper Gutman, from Hammett, The Maltese Falcon
I would think the 1948 monuments or their positions would be the best evidence of the boundary. If there is no detrimental reliance on the 1982 erroneous monument and it hasn’t been accepted by both property owners then it should be okay to set a new monument. It would be nice if Mr. 1982 would fix his mistake but maybe he isn’t available to do so.
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Mr 1982 was an excellent surveyor who I rarely disagree with and rely heavily on what he had done. He got to the county in the late 30’s and died in 1999 at 94 years old. His company has been dissolved and the only way to fix it is set the corner and hope my stuff gets recorded.
We all make mistakes. 🙂
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Well I thought I made a mistake one time but I was mistaken HAR HAR HAR.
The other possibility is he put it there based on some unstated but good reason then just showed record on the map.
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> Mr 1982 was an excellent surveyor who I rarely disagree with and rely heavily on what he had done. He got to the county in the late 30’s and died in 1999 at 94 years old. His company has been dissolved and the only way to fix it is set the corner and hope my stuff gets recorded.
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> We all make mistakes. 🙂More than once I have had contractors tell me that they accidentally knocked out my iron but they put it back where it was supposed to be.
I wouldn’t be so quick to assume the fault lies with the surveyor, especially if his other work is excellent.
Larry P
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> > Mr 1982 was an excellent surveyor who I rarely disagree with and rely heavily on what he had done. He got to the county in the late 30’s and died in 1999 at 94 years old. His company has been dissolved and the only way to fix it is set the corner and hope my stuff gets recorded.
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> > We all make mistakes. 🙂
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> More than once I have had contractors tell me that they accidentally knocked out my iron but they put it back where it was supposed to be.
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> I wouldn’t be so quick to assume the fault lies with the surveyor, especially if his other work is excellent.
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> Larry PIn this case, I’m going to have to believe that they “cut a foot” when setting the pipe and it was an error on the part of his crew in the mid 80’s. At any rate, I can prove the pipe was not in the 48 or 82 position and a shiny new 2 bit rebar with a nice cap is in that position with lovely NAD83 coordinates attached and a reference to the 1948 tie on the point of frog and a reference to the 2″ iron pipe as well. 🙂
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I can’t speak to your specific dilemma, per se. But I will say that in the case of conflicting evidence and when the exact location of the right-of-way boundary can’t be absolutely determined, I generally “err” to the side of the private owner, especially if the area of conflict is not occupied by travelling roadway. As a general rule, from what I understand, courts tend to favor the writer of the transaction or deed. Why would the “state” need to overstep its bounds onto a private owner if the land is not needed for the good of the public? the state isn’t in the realty business and won’t benefit in any way by having to maintain over some land that it doesn’t need for the health safety and welfare of its citizens.
….for whatever that’s worth.
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