So Im working on chopping around 1600 acres into hunting/recreational tracts ranging from 15 to 80 acres. The county where this is taking place currently has no Subdivision requirements. When I spoke to the county clerk she had been there over 10 years and never had a plat filed and referred me to a file drawer with "a bunch of maps" when I asked about seeing a recorded plat. Looking through the old maps it appears that no one but the clerk and sometimes the county judge approves the plat by stamping with the recording date etc.
This also complies with Tx öÇ 232.0015 Exceptions to Plat Requirements
However I just received the title commitment that has around 80 pages. Oilfield easements galore. Pipelines, swd lines, power, ingress/egress, buried telephone, flood easements etc. I can find no Texas State requirement to show and label these easements and it appears the county doesn't care. Some are not locatable due to an insufficient description, some will be shown, required or not but others like the buried telephone with its crappy description I probably wont--or should I?
Does anyone know of a state rule requiring easements to be shown on this type of survey?
Do you see any liability in not showing all of these easements if I note there possible existence on the plat?
I also have a standard note that goes on every one of my plats that drives title insurance underwriters nuts that says "There may be improvements and or easements not shown hereon."
Thanks
You must look at your project and accomplish what the BOR considers a title survey to contain and to make the drawing to an appropriate scale to show whatever is on or crossing the property, that which affects ownership or usage and all existing utilities you can see and identify and those of record and address everything in the title commitment and/or previous policy.
SWAG, post: 370667, member: 1364 wrote: So Im working on chopping around 1600 acres into hunting/recreational tracts ranging from 15 to 80 acres. The county where this is taking place currently has no Subdivision requirements. When I spoke to the county clerk she had been there over 10 years and never had a plat filed and referred me to a file drawer with "a bunch of maps" when I asked about seeing a recorded plat. Looking through the old maps it appears that no one but the clerk and sometimes the county judge approves the plat by stamping with the recording date etc.
This also complies with Tx öÇ 232.0015 Exceptions to Plat Requirements
However I just received the title commitment that has around 80 pages. Oilfield easements galore. Pipelines, swd lines, power, ingress/egress, buried telephone, flood easements etc. I can find no Texas State requirement to show and label these easements and it appears the county doesn't care. Some are not locatable due to an insufficient description, some will be shown, required or not but others like the buried telephone with its crappy description I probably wont--or should I?
Does anyone know of a state rule requiring easements to be shown on this type of survey?
Do you see any liability in not showing all of these easements if I note there possible existence on the plat?
I also have a standard note that goes on every one of my plats that drives title insurance underwriters nuts that says "There may be improvements and or easements not shown hereon."
Thanks
I would only show on the plat what visible easements I could see on the ground during the survey and in my certification state that "This plat is a result of a survey made on the ground under my direct supervision during the month of May 2016, there are no visible easements or encroachments other than those shown"
With that being said with a tract that big i might place what easements I could on the plat (the ones that have a description and their location can be made). I would make a copy of all the blanket easements and stick them in my file folder and never attempt to show them on my plat (you can't prove if the 10' wide telephone easement across tract X recorded in Vol. 500, Pg. 122 is located where the boxes are today, or maybe there is another telephone line with out boxes across the property).
I would add a note to the plat stating that no attempt has been made to show the location of all recorded easements affecting the subject tract.
I guess I should have been more clear. This is not a title survey just a boundary and subdivision. Im using a commitment for the property only as a guide.
I wouldn't show the easements
Will people be buying property based upon your drawing?
It does not matter what you or someone else is calling it, the surveyor's responsibility remains the same.
A subdivision plat needs to show the easements, if there is a title commitment you need to go thur it and plot up the easements, if it is a blanket easement make a note on the plat.
Hudspeth County? LOL
I would show any easements that have descriptions and can be located. I would add a "Subject to" note for those that can't be plotted for whatever reason. Depends on what your client wants and what you are certifying to also... TSPS Cat.1A requires easements of record and visible indications of a possible easements.
The Board doesn't even require a drawing to be prepared...
As there is a Title Commitment, I assume that someone is getting a Title Policy. They will except anything that is close to the property or belongs to a previous owner to limit their liability. The Title Company is excepting anything that is would be shown on a recent survey. Guess who is in line for any liability? If it can not be plotted, you should at least reference the easement and state that it may affect the property. I will show are reference every easement in a Title Commitment, unless I can prove that it does not affect Subject Property. I can not imagine not showing or addressing all easements of which I am aware.
Review General Rules & Proceedures & Practices 663.20 and pay attention that state code requires a plat when making a division of property.
I'm just learning here...so bear with me. 663.20 says "when" submitting a plat to a political subdivision... The county doesn't have any platting requirements. What says that a drawing "plat" has to be produced and not divided by metes and bounds? I tried to search the Texas Property Code and quickly got lost...
I had read the highlights article in my previous search. It references city and county approval. Courthouse direct is not a government entity. Does the state require a plat if the land is being subdivided and it is not located in a city ETJ or county that requires a plat? Who do I turn the plat in to for approval? I have heard that all tract subdivision leaving lots under 10 acres have to be platted but I always thought that was just a county requirement and not a state law. In my locale just about everything has to be platted. The City of Houston is even requiring plats when improving property.
Interesting feedback here... Questions.... How often is everyone provided a title commitment? I don't recall any mention in the rules of being required to use a title commitment and show all recorded easements. Now it's a different story if the subdivision regulations set forth by the local governing body require it or it's an ALTA survey or you are certifying to TSPS standards.
The OP stated there were no subdivision regulations, so why show all the easements? Next question why record the subdivision plat? Write legal descriptions for each tract of the subdivision, and call for each adjoiner of the newly created tract(i.e. Thence east to 1000.00 feet to a 1/2" iron rod with plastic cap stamped xxxx set for the common NEC of this tract and the NWC of tract 2 surveyed this same date). If the landowner wants a large plat showing the entire subdivision, and single plat for each tract then make em.
Not saying anyone is wrong here, just different than what I have been taught. I have always been told to show more than enough so someone else can understand how you made your boundary decision, but don't show a bunch of info that isn't required for the type survey you are doing that just adds unneeded liability.
TXSurveyor, post: 371078, member: 6719 wrote: Interesting feedback here... Questions.... How often is everyone provided a title commitment? I don't recall any mention in the rules of being required to use a title commitment and show all recorded easements. Now it's a different story if the subdivision regulations set forth by the local governing body require it or it's an ALTA survey or you are certifying to TSPS standards.
The OP stated there were no subdivision regulations, so why show all the easements? Next question why record the subdivision plat? Write legal descriptions for each tract of the subdivision, and call for each adjoiner of the newly created tract(i.e. Thence east to 1000.00 feet to a 1/2" iron rod with plastic cap stamped xxxx set for the common NEC of this tract and the NWC of tract 2 surveyed this same date). If the landowner wants a large plat showing the entire subdivision, and single plat for each tract then make em.
Not saying anyone is wrong here, just different than what I have been taught. I have always been told to show more than enough so someone else can understand how you made your boundary decision, but don't show a bunch of info that isn't required for the type survey you are doing that just adds unneeded liability.
Are we taking about the same thing? When I hear subdivision plat I am thinking of taking a tract and making new Lots, to be filed in the County Courthouse. A new legal description will be made which would be Lot 1 of Block 1 of 1600 Acres Subdivision. Or you just making a map the landowner can show to a hunter and say this is your area to hunt?
If I know the easement is there or I see evidence of a pipeline or access easement I show it. You need to do it to protect yourself and the public.
In 3 years they made start selling these lots and people may build homes on their new lots. A good chance they made built the house on top of an easement. I will give you 3 to 1 odds on who the first person they are going to call.
I do not understand why you would not show the easements if you know about them, could you explain to me your reason other than the County has no requirements to show it?
I
Scott Ellis, post: 371244, member: 7154 wrote: Are we taking about the same thing? When I hear subdivision plat I am thinking of taking a tract and making new Lots, to be filed in the County Courthouse. A new legal description will be made which would be Lot 1 of Block 1 of 1600 Acres Subdivision. Or you just making a map the landowner can show to a hunter and say this is your area to hunt?
If I know the easement is there or I see evidence of a pipeline or access easement I show it. You need to do it to protect yourself and the public.
In 3 years they made start selling these lots and people may build homes on their new lots. A good chance they made built the house on top of an easement. I will give you 3 to 1 odds on who the first person they are going to call.
I do not understand why you would not show the easements if you know about them, could you explain to me your reason other than the County has no requirements to show it?
anytime you split at tract into one or more tracts that would be considered a subdivision. I believe swag is referring to this as subdivision plat because he/she is surveying out all the tracts at the same time. Although the county doesn't require that a subdivision plat be recorded he/she is wanting to do so instead of preparing seperate plats and metes and bounds descriptions or one one plat showing all the new tracts and providing seperate metes and bounds description, nothing wrong either of the 3 methods in my opinion.
I would show all the on the ground evidence of easements (power lines, pipelines, etc) that I located on the ground during my survey, but I would not take the time to draw up all easements and then attempt show them on my plat, some might not even exist anymore by virtue of an abandonment clause, or expire after a certain number of years. Now if requested by the landowner or there were reg's in place requiring that I did, then yes I would show them and I would charge accordingly, for my time and added liability.
This is how I've seen every surveyor in my area do it and I've never seen in rules set forth by the state requiring that a surveyor show all easements on a plat.
Landowners building a house shouldn't rely on a survey plat to show an existing easements, they should rely on the one call system to locate the utilities and then hire a surveyor to place the easements on the ground if needed/possible .
Off topic-but surveyors get blamed for too much that is outside their normal scope and most of us don't ensure our price correlates with our liability(I'm guilty of this too). The same goes for making a flood zone determination statement on our plats when requested, who in the world volunteered surveyors to be the experts at this or rather who said lets get the surveyor to take on this liability?