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not-my-real-name
(@not-my-real-name)
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I performed a survey of an existing boundary and found the town had paved a street on my clientƒ??s property. The property area is less than half of one acre and about 90% of the paved road is crossing the boundary. This would amount to approximately 12 percent of the clientƒ??s property being used as a public way.

The situation was explained to the owner and the survey was recorded. I gave copies of the survey to the town Highway Superintendent, and painted the boundary line on the pavement between the corners that were set. The Highway Superintendent feigned concern, but has done nothing.

A while later the client sold the property. The deed of conveyance does not mention the survey that I performed. It does refer to an older survey that also shows the pavement, but notes that it is a driveway.

The street is not a driveway and it is being used by the public. Besides, there is a county layout in the record for the street dating back to 1946. The street is almost entirely outside the layout lines.

I wanted to speak with the new owners to see if they are aware of the situation and if they are aware of the survey I performed for the previous owner, but my assistant told me it is no longer my problem. I am inclined to believe the previous owner and their attorney misled the people buying this property by not disclosing the survey in order to sell.

Would you contact the new owners?

Historic boundaries and conservation efforts.

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 10:24 am
FL/GA PLS
(@flga-pls)
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Posted by: @not-my-real-name

Would you contact the new owners?

No, I would MYOB. ?????ÿ

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 10:57 am
paden-cash
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I probably would not, but that's just personal judgement.?ÿ I have seen a plethora of 'land mines' hidden within real estate deals after I have done a proper survey that was buried in a drawer and ignored.

At some point in time you have to let people do what they wish.

?ÿ

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 10:57 am
MightyMoe
(@mightymoe)
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Without knowing everything.

You filed your survey as a public record.?ÿ

My inclination is to stand by that and leave it there.?ÿ

It's frustrating that the landowner didn't pursue correcting the encroachment, but surveyors have a limited responsibility and authority. It's up to the landowners to enforce their rights.?ÿ

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 11:00 am
not-my-real-name
(@not-my-real-name)
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Thank you everyone. I guess I should never doubt my assistant.

Historic boundaries and conservation efforts.

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 11:25 am

(@bstrand)
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Posted by: @not-my-real-name

I am inclined to believe the previous owner and their attorney misled the people buying this property by not disclosing the survey in order to sell.

You say you recorded it, right??ÿ Then it is disclosed.?ÿ It seems either the people didn't know or bother to check the public record for this property, or they did not care about the encroachment.?ÿ I think I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 12:05 pm
nate-the-surveyor
(@nate-the-surveyor)
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This backs up thesis that surveyors are trouble makers. The world would be better off without them. 😉

(humor alert)

N

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 1:12 pm
nate-the-surveyor
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This backs up thesis that surveyors are trouble makers. The world would be better off without them. 😉

(humor alert)

N

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 1:13 pm
MightyMoe
(@mightymoe)
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To flesh this out a bit more. If I took the position to inform the new buyers, all I would do all day long is inform people about issues similar to yours. If you do this long enough it will happen over and over.?ÿ

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 1:52 pm
holy-cow
(@holy-cow)
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Look at the bright side of things.?ÿ The tract is not landlocked.

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 1:55 pm

(@mike-marks)
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Posted by: @mightymoe

You filed your survey as a public record.?ÿ?ÿ

Assuming the purchaser obtained a Title Report (pretty much required if they're financing the purchase) they should be well aware of your survey.

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 2:13 pm
brad-ott
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@nate-the-surveyor I brag too often that I am a deal killer.

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 4:02 pm
(@rj-schneider)
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Just for grins, where does the county GIS place the property lines. Someone else had got to be wondering that too.

?ÿ

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 4:08 pm
not-my-real-name
(@not-my-real-name)
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@rj-schneider

The town has a GIS and shows the boundary near the edge of the house so the pavement is not over the line. How convenient.

Historic boundaries and conservation efforts.

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 4:39 pm
holy-cow
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@mike-marks

What seems to be the standard case around here is that the borrowers gets stuck paying for the title policy to cover the lender but all too frequently do not pay a little extra to also have an owners' title policy issued to them.?ÿ Thus, they may or may not come into possession of the results of the title work.?ÿ They are lulled into assuming that whatever satisfies the lender will cover them as well.?ÿ WRONG!

They remember paying for something that was supposed to protect them, but it really doesn't.?ÿ It only covers the lender's butt.?ÿ They walk away from the closing feeling comfortable, but shouldn't.?ÿ In the big scheme of things, paying a bit extra at the time to add an owners' policy is a no-brainer.

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 5:08 pm

not-my-real-name
(@not-my-real-name)
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@holy-cow

You are correct. I am not involved in many conveyances, but I firmly believe in buyer's title insurance. I don't think that the buyer would have obtained a title report otherwise.?ÿ

Historic boundaries and conservation efforts.

 
Posted : February 28, 2021 6:12 pm
peter-lothian
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@not-my-real-name

I found the same strange situation with Crockett Road in Upton. County did a road layout on behalf of the town, complete with bounds in the 1950's, but the town never moved the actual road bed. It remains in place on the "private way" that had been laid out in the 1920's. Whereabouts is your strange road? PM me if you want to keep off the public forum.

PB 922 PG 103

?ÿ

 
Posted : March 1, 2021 6:45 am
holy-cow
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@not-my-real-

Thus the property taxes should be lower as they are on a smaller lot, per GIS.

 
Posted : March 1, 2021 7:26 am
Norman_Oklahoma
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One of the first little chores I was assigned at my new job in our fair city was a problem with drainage on a side street. Storm drainage?ÿ running down off the main road was causing flooding problems with a house at the low point about 500' from the intersection. Fixing the problem was going to be a multi-million dollar undertaking. My first reaction was to suggest that buying the house and demolishing it was going to be the cheapest way to go, and this in the knowledge that a houses in that area start at over $500k for a flooded out fixer upper.?ÿ

It didn't take too long for me to realize that the road, although paved and marked with the usual street signs, and shown on street maps as a numbered street, wasn't a dedicated road at all.?ÿ Which I communicated.?ÿ

One of the young engineers put a fair bit of time into preliminary investigations, including speaking with all the affected owners, and sketching out a preliminary plan and cost estimate. A meeting was called. His cost was pushing $3 million before allowing for right of way acquisition.?ÿ One of the attendees was an engineer who has been with the city for 20+ years. He made a few suggestions about engineering issues with the proposal, but was otherwise restrained.?ÿ

This fellow later told me in private that the exact same problem, same street, had been assigned to him back when he was the young new guy at the city 20 years ago. The owners wanted the gravel/dirt driveway that then existed made into a public street and paved. That required that storm drainage issues be addressed. He had almost lined up all the owners up that street to pay for the fix, when the city's public works operations manager got a new paving machine, and was Jones-ing for a little something to try it out on. He layed asphalt on what had been a gravel/dirt driveway in a day, thereby undercutting my man's negotiating leverage with the neighborhood, and his project fizzled.?ÿ

Turning back to today's problem - the fact that the road was not dedicated right of way allowed the engineering manager to say "not my circus, not my monkeys". Nevertheless, there remains several million dollars of real estate up that street without documented access.?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ ?ÿ

?ÿ?ÿ

 
Posted : March 1, 2021 10:28 am
 ppm
(@ppm)
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@norman-oklahoma

What street / jurisdiction if I may ask?

 
Posted : March 1, 2021 1:30 pm

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