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Question about ethics of a Surveyor
We live in a small county. There is one Surveyor that does 95% of all the surveys in the County. I will also add that most of my neighbors are elderly (70’s and 80’s). My neighbor across the street needed a survey for a will they were setting up. The Surveyor who does 95% of the work does not have a great reputation so the couple tried to find a surveyor from a town over. Absolutely no one wanted to take the job. They told my neighbors that our local surveyor makes it difficult for other surveyors. They said something about he wouldn’t answer questions or provide information on past surveys and it’s generally a courtesy thing you all do. OK, so they go with the guy who does them all (and he is licensed). We moved here two years ago and almost all my neighbors told me that the person living next to me was moving property lines (let’s call him Tom). No one confronted him because they are afraid of him (this is important to note).
So, the surveyor arrives and walks around their property, makes a call and disappears. They are confused so they ask if I can come over. As I’m walking out my door, I see Tom pull up in his blacked out SUV and the surveyor jumps inside. I go back inside because something felt off and I didn’t want them to see me. So, an hour goes by and they are still in the SUV. Finally, the surveyor gets out and my neighbor Tom drives off. I walk across the street and I take notes of where he starts the survey, etc. I can’t tell you why I felt something was wrong but I did. I also am aware that I know nothing about surveys. Also their property seemed pretty straightforward so I didn’t want to upset them for no reason.
The survey was done in less than an hour. Four months go by and they still don’t have the survey. It’s holding up the will. Finally they get the survey and immediately my neighbor says he followed the surveyor and he took out a pin and put it 5ft over. I look at the survey and it says nothing about that pin. They place a few calls to him and he never calls back. They do not have a computer or internet so they give me a letter and ask if I can type it for them. I’m posting the letter because it’s not threatening. They are elderly and they had a few questions. They paid him in full so I would think he could answer their questions. This doesn’t happen.
About a week after they sent the letter, my neighbor is grocery shopping and gets a call from the Sheriff. She immediately thinks something terrible has happened to one of her kids. She is TERRIFIED. She calls my husband and asks him to go tell her husband (because they only have one cell phone). My husband walks over and waits for the Sheriff to arrive. The sheriff arrives and SERVES them with a letter from an attorney on behalf of the surveyor! I’m attaching it because it’s beyond crazy.
It’s obvious the attorney just wants what they know. Also, they NEVER contacted the County Surveyor, but no one was holding their breath for that. My neighbors tried to hire a new surveyor but no one wants to survey in this county and they just don’t have the money. Also important to note is that after this letter, I looked up the surveyor and his license was suspended in the past but not for anything like this. I’m also really questioning the validity of surveys he did in the shared community I live in.
What do you think? What should we do next if no one wants to survey here?
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