Client calls in a panic because another surveyor has been out this morning and set new rods and caps 2-3 feet inside her fence. No problem, I am out this afternoon and tie in the whole block. I find four new monuments for the east adjoiner to my subject tract and at the adjoiner's southeast corner, there is an old iron that has been pulled out and laid on the ground. These new rods miss occupation on both sides by 2-3 feet. I walk the entire block and recover 23 monuments. I distinctly notice two block corners on the east end of the block have recently been dug up. In doing analysis, it is my professional opinion that these two corners are off 2-3 feet. There is no evidence that the west block corners were dug up and most of the corners I found today were either flush with surface or no apparent evidence that they were dug up. It appears that the other surveyor relied on two rods that probably should not have been held if you look at them with respect to the entire block as well as the fact that the new rods are definitely not harmonious with the occupation.
We found or set monuments for our client at the time that he built his fence about 4 years ago and he did a good job of setting the fence just inside the property line. The west rods are still intact and within a couple of inches of the corner posts. While I did not find the our old east rods, I am pretty certain that the fence was constructed similarly and the new monuments are off. I will be calling the other surveyor in the morning to inform him of my discovery. I assume he will make good. I am going to reset the corners based on our previous survey tomorrow anyway, but will leave it to the other surveyor to pull his own. If, after a certain amount of time the other rods are still intact, would you advise your client to pull them or just not worry about them. And if you would advise your client to pull them, then why wouldn't you just pull them on your own?
i don't know about pulling pins. that is dicey business. but it may be warranted in this situation. tough call.
i would advise my client to send the other surveyor your bill. his mistake caused harm. he should make the harmed parties whole.
Never, ever would I advise a client to pull someones stakes, pins, or anything. somebody most likely paid good money to have them set, right or wrong, and removing them could be considered s theft of services...
I would think that you need to see how the other surveyor responds to your call. If he is reasonable and an honest and open dialog takes place between the two of you a reasonable solution will present itself.
If on the other hand he is a butt hole, I would suggest that your client call an attorney.
I never ever pull someone else's pin no matter how blatantly wrong it may be. It is class D felony to remove a survey marker. Hopefully the situation will be resolved but only the surveyor that set a pin should have the right to pull it out.
And then there was the phone call. The other surveyor didn't like what I was saying. But in the second breath, he admitted that he was unsure about his location out there.
I think we have a meeting sometime this afternoon to look at the evidence and come to a meeting of the minds. I presume that the other surveyor will acquiesce to my location and go move his own pins, but if not, the incorrect monuments do not bother me and my client will defend her occupation.
Interesting though, that someone can trespass and set corner monuments on my property. Seems as though I would have a right to remove the rubbish. I bet Kent would agree. 😉
Andy
> And then there was the phone call. The other surveyor didn't like what I was saying. But in the second breath, he admitted that he was unsure about his location out there.
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> I think we have a meeting sometime this afternoon to look at the evidence and come to a meeting of the minds. I presume that the other surveyor will acquiesce to my location and go move his own pins, but if not, the incorrect monuments do not bother me and my client will defend her occupation.
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> Interesting though, that someone can trespass and set corner monuments on my property. Seems as though I would have a right to remove the rubbish. I bet Kent would agree. 😉
While I agree when you're the landowner, I disagree when you're the surveyor. Whether Kent agrees or not, is irrelevant to me. Not knocking him, but I wouldn't do what he does. While I'm sure he will defend it till his dying breath (and that's fine), I don't think it's good practice.
Andy
I'd never pull anything either...
Now... drive 'em down a foot or so and pull the flagging... YES.
But remember, VA is not a capping state, so it would just be a bare iron in the ground. Much less dignity.
Carl
Advising a client to pull some existing stakes. Would that be like feeding the bears? Do you think the client might be inclined to pull other stakes s/he doesn't like?
I agree that it is or should be illegal for a lot of people to pull property evidence, but I wonder if surveyors have some kind of obligation to in certain circumstances. I have pulled rebar and marked the hole, and straightened out the crooked rebar, but I would not advise or suggest that a private party do the same. Flat-out pulling pins that you know another licensed surveyor set might be a bad idea. Will you start a war? Will the other surveyor start pulling or repositioning your pins? I think we have a certain amount of professional courtesy to discuss our differences with other professional surveyors and if you can't agree with them, not disturbing their pins. Report them if they are acting unprofessionally.
Its a Felony Class D to remove a monument in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Weird that you would even consider removing or even disturbing anything that may resemble a monument. WOW! Licensees? Anyway, whats the deal with the possession lines in this thread? Really worried about parol evidence for what reason; its a big fat <3 in any case. If you found like 23 monuments +/- in this boundary and are worred about the two that were pulled up, SET THE NEW ONES AND GROW SOME. Call the other surveyor and let him know you have conflicting evidence and to check his crap out.
Ask yourself this question PLEASE....... Do I know that I am correct and can prove myself correct in the court of justice on the stand? Make the call man, thats why you have a license and there isn't monkeys in banana suits doing what you and I do.
It is far more important to be able to hit the target than it is to haggle over who pulls the trigger. D.D.E. (IKE)
