When I purchased my property my deed and the survey done in 1992 stated 0.66 acres. Due to some neighbor issues arising from him removing a survey marker ,which if interested you can read about in my other thread, I was forced to hire another surveyor. The surveyor, who I should mention is very well respected locally, is very confident there is an encroachment. However, the new survey he completed in 2016 states 0.672 acres for a .012 acre increase. The neighbor of course didnt like the new survey due to it revealing an encroachment and had his attorney send me threatening letters to remove the new pins or they will file for quiet title. I hired an attorney and we did a mediation. Of course the neighbor's attorney repeatedly brings up that I now have more acreage. My surveyor never elaborated on how this is possible, but seemed very confident that it is and more or less acted like the attorney was an idiot for not understanding. Finally the attorney asks "So it's not about the acreage, it's about the metes and bounds?", my surveyor nods, and the attorney temporarily concedes only to then jump into playing the "pins must have shifted" theory and then later followed by prescriptive easement threats. I cant post the surveys yet due to pending litigation so I do understand you cant identify specifically, but could anyone please advise if this is possible and some situations where this could happen with the new survey still being correct?
The calls control over the acreage. There might be enough difference in the measured distances to cause the acreage to be that much different. Also remember that 0.66 is not the same thing as 0.66000000000000000000000. The earlier survey may have been for 0.664 acres, or it may have been for 0.655 acres. It is extremely rare for me to label area to the thousandth of an ace.
I am not really sure what the question is.
is this your other post? https://surveyorconnect.com/community/threads/was-charged-6700-for-survey-on-2-3-acre-lot.328559/
I briefly scanned the opening post...
Yes, 2.5 feet could make up that much area.
43560x0.012=522.72 square feet
so 2.5 feet in one line 210 feet long would account for that area...
Don't worry about the area. The real concern is with how deep the neighbor's pockets are. Some people will spend all they have, and more, to get a resolution that makes them happy.
Area in a deed is usually only informative, it does not control the boundary. The area is calculated from the bearings and distances. The bearings and distances in the deed are only guides to find the location of the boundaries on the ground. When a surveyor measures the boundaries on the ground there is always an error, because of that It is not unusual for two surveyors to come up with small differences in area. Sometimes a surveyor makes an mistake and the error on the bearing and/or distance is bigger than would be expected.
These errors are not usually a problem, as long as the measurments are close enough to allow those following the survey/deed to find the true location. The area difference your surveyor is reporting is not unusual.
aliquot, post: 445821, member: 2486 wrote: Area in a deed is usually only informative, it does not control the boundary. The area is calculated from the bearings and distances.
The area is usually, as you say, calculated from bearings and distances and typically takes a back seat to Bearings and distances, and is more than likely the case for this thread. But area, especially in a legal description, is indicative of intent. Especially if the description doesn't have bearings and distances in it.
You, your attorney and surveyor need to discuss defending the boundary line in question not the area. It maybe a simple measurement issue, or it maybe more complicated. Your Surveyor needs to explain this too you and your attorney. If you and you attorney don't understand, neither will a judge.
Remember that area is a multiplication of length and width so it can compound really quick. That is why there is a difference between two different surveys. As someone mention before there is always error. We try to keep it to a minimum, but it's still there. In the scope of things, area is the least of importance when surveying.
