Come in this morning and see an email from an engineer that’s been overseeing a couple million dollar project to shore up several erosion dikes with riprap. Says he thinks a new home going in might be encroaching into our access easement. It’s plain as day on the plat. Being I’d do anything to get outside right now I offer to run out and see if it’s the case. Do my survey, everything checks tight. Yep, sure enough their extended garage is 20’ into a 30’ wide easement. Who the heck builds a $400,000 house and doesn’t bother with getting a survey done to make sure there no issues that would cause a bank to balk at loaning on it?
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
Wow, Did they have a building permit with any type of plan showing the proposed location?
@gary_g No building permits required here outside city limits. Real bummer they didn’t pay heed to a platted easement. No easy fixes.
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
Stories such as this one never die when surveyors get together in a casual setting. People have been stupid forever.
There is a detailed forensic survey carried out by the County Surveyor about 130 years ago that involves a rural house intentionally built ON the boundary line between two Counties on file in one County's vault. The thought was that neither county would assess property taxes unless it was completely in one county. The survey became important in assigning which County's Court and law officers would be assigned to process a murder that occurred in that house. The assailant was in one County when he/she shot the victim in the other County. I do not recall ever knowing which County got the case.
" No easy fixes “
the fix is pretty easy, - an excavator & a couple of end dumps.
I’d say “no cheap fixes”.
I worked on a similar project years ago. Someone decided to sink all of their retirement savings into a real estate investment. The paid cash for the property and did not think they needed a title report of any type. Winning.
Anyway, it turns out they built the investment house on an easement for a future water transmission main from Portland's watershed. The line is planned to be a 72" (maybe bigger) line. The owner's attorney called the city water bureau to find out how quickly they could vacate the easement. I don't think he got the answer he was looking for. The City replied, get your house off our easement or we will remove it. They did give him a bit of a break. The City said it would reroute the proposed line if, and only if, they could find a way to reroute the planned line at the guilty party's expense.
The re-alignment affected 5 additional larger rural properties. I had to survey them all in and prepare new easements. Luck for the owner, he was able to get them to sign off on the new route. I can only image what it cost him. Just my fees were well into the 5 figures and none of the adjoiner's were really happy so I'm sure it took a bit to buy their approval.
Arrogant idiots. IMO the more money they have the stupider they are. We had a few in my neighborhood that built into platted easements because they were too cheep to get a survey. Years later after they somehow managed to sell the properties without surveys--I guess the plat sufficed and was never checked--the problem raised its ugly head. They all had to pay for boundary surveys and got variances.