Long time listener, first time caller. LOL
Item 1:So our firm has been requested by the purchaser of a property to show a PROPOSED billboard and lighting for said billboard on an ALTA / NSPS Land Title Survey. We have never come across this request, plotting proposed items. There is an existing engineering plan with all the details for the billboard and the zoning rules and regs that are associated. Only an engineer stamp, no surveyor stamp / signature.
Item 2 : Since there is a plan showing all of the zoning information regarding the property and the billboard do we show that on the ALTA plan based on it being a recorded record found or obtained as part of document research? Zoning on the Table A was not checked off.
Your experience / feedback would be appreciated.
Our company is literally me in the office, my husband the surveyor and our worker bee (field crew).?ÿ
Peace, Gayle
Good question.
Sweet avatar.
I look forward to some helpful replies.
Welcome, friend.
I'd show it, with appropriate caveats about its status. It's something a title insurer would want to know about.
Hmm, yeah first I've heard of such a request. I would think there's nothing wrong with showing it and labeling it accordingly; maybe call it a #20 fill in the blank item.
Yes, show anything that affects the title of the property and provides the insurer the info they need to prepare a good policy. Be prepare to go beyond what is requested by the client, and expect attorneys and insurers to want their interest shown on the survey also. You can fight back, but pick your battles wisely. I always expect ALTA surveys to be a little pride diminishing, but then that’s why they cost so much. Good Luck.
I've shown proposed items, especially on solar array fields.
I usually caveat by listing the source of the proposed billboard/lighting/etc, and then something along the lines of not guaranteeing that items will actually be built and/or built in the locations indicated.
Make a note and reference the note when you label the proposed improvements. All improvements are existing unless noted as being proposed.
Despite things said in prior comments, I would not show proposed construction, an ALTA and any other property survey are meant to show existing conditions and matters of record only. If there are easements for billboard locations, plot them and park the truck there.
It is not our job as Surveyors to show proposed construction unless there are official approvals for the construction and it's location. If the approvals are in hand than the location is pinned down but if not, approving authorities may ask for the locations to be moved.
Stick to the basics and don't bent to the lawyers.
@chris-bouffard I disagree with Chris. Item 20 can be anything negotiated between the client and the surveyor. If the client wants it shown and it is correctly depicted, there is nothing wrong with adding an item 20 to the ALTA.
If the client wants it shown and it is correctly depicted, there is nothing wrong with adding an item 20 to the ALTA.
Agree. Proposed location of billboard per (PLAN TITLE) prepared by (COMPANY), dated (DATE OF PLAN). Done. So long as you keep your hands clean, why not?
@lurker it is not our function as Surveyors to propose construction.
@chris-bouffard And we are not proposing construction. Someone else is and we are showing it on our ALTA at the clients request.
@lurker it is not our function as Surveyors to propose construction.
Don't know about you, but we show proposed structures often. Sometimes that's the purpose of the survey.
Thankfully, we receive few calls for ALTAs. Normally give them a start date they find unacceptable. Been more than ten years , now. I will gladly pass them along to others who need the hassle.
@lurker it is a survey, it's not a site plan.
I got another request for a cost of an ALTA for a vacant rural subdivision lot. Two red flags, rando buyer not the owner (will only do surveys for rando buyers with full up front payment), and the empty lot, WTF do you need an ALTA for that?
Didn't matter anyway, unless you want to hire a plow you can't get there now, there's 3' of Icy snow and another 21" on the way.
I got another request for a cost of an ALTA for a vacant rural subdivision lot. Two red flags, rando buyer not the owner (will only do surveys for rando buyers with full up front payment), and the empty lot, WTF do you need an ALTA for that?
Didn't matter anyway, unless you want to hire a plow you can't get there now, there's 3' of Icy snow and another 21" on the way.
This is my policy from now on... I finished a 48 acre ALTA for the buyer of a mobile home park in South Mississippi. Received a $20K retainer (50%). I discovered a title overlap caused by improper sequencing of calls in the adjacent owners chain of title. I offered to write the proper description and have the buyer's attorney do all of the legal work, at no cost to her. Needless to say, she thought we were trying to steal her property and the case has been in litigation since October. The buyer cant pay until closing, but blames me for the delay because I found the title overlap.
I feel your pain. Years ago I got a request for a trailer park ALTA in a flood plain with no flood map.
I put in a big cost and the requester went ballistic. I couldn't get him to pick just what he needed so I listed out all the items. All he would tell me was that it never would cost that much where he's from and he was going to do lots of ALTA's locally. I wouldn't change my bid and he found another to do the work, I made more money not getting that job than I would have made doing it.
- Quite often an ALTA survey is requested because that is the only kind of survey the requestor knows of - and they really just want a detailed topo with boundary.
- I suppose that it is possible that the lender may wish to know if the proposed use of the property will be conforming.
- I see no reason that you can't show proposed uses (see Table A, item 20) as long as you make it clear that that is what you are showing. Perhaps through the use of dashed/dotted lines and/or a color other than black?