...I was just trying to get them a deed."
That is exactly what was in a story I was told yesterday by a friend of mine. It seems he had gotten a call from a landowner (A) because the landowners neighbor (B) claimed A was claiming 14 acres of his farm. Well, it seems the local lowballer/halfass surveyor had surveyed this property for A. One problem. A should have had 150 acres, and after this surveyor was finished, he had 164. A and B both had recent surveys and this guy ignored them both. Here's the kicker. A paid for this land by the acre based on this survey. A overpaid by $28,000. When my friend called this surveyor to ask him what went on, he was told "I wasn't surveying their boundaries, I was just trying to get them a deed." Luckily for the rest of us, this fellow shouldn't be practicing many more years. He's over 70 years old.
It is sad to see when someone takes advantage of the trusting nature of clients.
But, in this case, the damage is done so you might as well write up the story with as many details as possible. (Leaving out the names of course.)
Then, next time someone wants to know if you can't cut your price to match "low ballers 'r us", point to this case and explain that getting a cheap survey can be a very expensive mistake they will never ever repeat.
Larry P
What's bad about this thing is the buyer doesn't even want to file a complaint against the surveyor.
> What's bad about this thing is the buyer doesn't even want to file a complaint against the surveyor.
Other than the desire not to "rat someone out", is there anything stopping you from reporting this surveyor?
I struggle with being a rat myself. Where is the balance between policing ourselves and being able to sleep at night?
I would, but I don't have any evidence.
This sounds like a recent court case I read about somewhere. I wonder if the story is getting passed around and the original story has now been lost?
I'm getting real tired of the old retired, or should be, guys that do it as a hobby. They just make it hard on every one.
No, this is not the old story. This surveyor lives about 15 miles from me. I have a very strong suspicion that if he were called on the carpet (i.e. a complaint or lawsuit filed) he'd hang it up. He's drawing a good pension. He only does this to give him something to do.
Another surveyor told me the other day that he measures distances using stadia.
Why wouldn't that legal description that takes in 14 acres that should not have been included in the parcel be evidence of malpractice? I suppose the description doesn't refer to the surveyor as the source?
I ran into one like that where I used to work. A brother surveyor's field crew followed the tax parcel map's definition of the boundaries of the tract they were going around. Problem was that the tax assessor had lumped a 14 acre wood lot to the west of their tract that was separated from the main part to the tract to the south by a narrow lane about 800 feet in length. The tract they were surveying was comprised of several 20-30 acre tracts in a combining deed. They apparently never plotted up the grantor's deed because the old surveys the descriptions were based on were actually pretty good and plainly did not take in the wood lot.
I've ratted out 2 surveyors in my time.
1.) young feller, (This was 20 yrs ago) his work was so bad, that I would call him a "Tax assessor, and abstractor, who made the paper work slide through, with as little real surveying as possible" He would hang flags, and set wood stakes, sometimes though.
2.) A friend of mine, that I still consider a friend. He busted 400' for 1/2 a mile of wood land, and timber was cut. My client turned him in. (in good faith, I did not really rat on him, but his own work did.
I feel no shame. Kinda like taking your grandma's driver's liscense, "'cause she is running into others all the time".
It is a part of the process.
Like burying a family member. It can be done professionally, and without malice. It has to be done, or the dead body stinks. It does not mean you hate them.
N
Sue the crap out of the ps and let his liability insurance take care of the rest.
> ...I was just trying to get them a deed."
>
> ..."I wasn't surveying their boundaries, I was just trying to get them a deed." Luckily for the rest of us, this fellow shouldn't be practicing many more years. He's over 70 years old.
Did you even ask him what that means? I can't even fathom what he was trying to accomplish.
He giving them a description to convey title, even though said description was worth less than the paper it was printed on. I can't believe that the general public is such chicken excrement that this guy hasn't been sued out of business.
> He giving them a description to convey title, even though said description was worth less than the paper it was printed on. I can't believe that the general public is such chicken excrement that this guy hasn't been sued out of business.
OK, I hear you... very wacky.
Out of morbid curiousity... Is he using a transit and tape or something electronic?
Stadia.
> Stadia.
Oh yeah... saw that and then forgot. Ouch.
Why is it assumed that the blunder happened to the so-called “Low Baller.” I know some surveyors who pork their clients and make mistakes. An “unethical pricing practitioner” is just as capable of making mistakes as anyone else. If this guy “was just trying to get them a deed” and then bragged on this site he charged them $100,000 for his effort, 90% of this board would stand and applaud him.
> Why is it assumed that the blunder happened to the so-called “Low Baller.” I know some surveyors who pork their clients and make mistakes. An “unethical pricing practitioner” is just as capable of making mistakes as anyone else. If this guy “was just trying to get them a deed” and then bragged on this site he charged them $100,000 for his effort, 90% of this board would stand and applaud him.
Because this guy did make an error. He ignored his deed and the adjoiners deed and struck a new line through this farm where none had existed before. Surely you're not going to sit here and defend a guy that measures distance with stadia.
In your original post you do not indicate the guy is a low-baller. A later comment basically said that's what they get for hiring a low-baller. I am merely pointing out that he was just as capable of making the error no matter what he charged. Or, do you contend that the guy would not have made the mistake if he charged more money? In my experience, I have found that it does not matter what the client pays for a survey, the same surveyors make the same old mistakes. I might even contend that some of the solo operators that are very cost effective compared to the big box survey companies, do a better job because they do their own field work. However, it may be different in your area.
Ok, I can agree with that.
I may post the offending plat tomorrow, with lots of redacting of course.
