So another firm sent a client my way. They do not want to tackle a research project and original plan of land. Fine.
There are 5 deeds in a row with surveys to the north and south. This firm completed a plan for the first of these 5 parcels and they sent the middle lot to me.
I looked over their plan for the first lot and they held the road taking for the deed frontage. The lot was created before the road taking and as there are converging boundaries, the frontage should be less than the 150' deed distance.
This is not the first time I have caught them holding a deed frontage along a road layout and last time we discussed one they were not pleased with me questioning their boundary analysis. I can be frank and confident: They were wrong.
Their plan has not yet been recorded and I will likely record one first. Based on my research and the work we have along the road, I believe the corner should be about 0.5' away from their SSM set. The other side was established by plan.
So I have a slight conundrum. They are sending me a job and I believe I will disagree with their work... Any thoughts?
It sounds like you don't want to deal with it, so send it on over 😉
Show them your findings and let the cards fall where they may. At the end of the day, you are not going to do it wrong just to keep them happy.
> It sounds like you don't want to deal with it, so send it on over 😉
That's what a guy like me would do, as have many other peers in the past - defer. I'd pick Don because he's a legger and it's snowing there, keep it in the family .... 😀
Do not make their problem your problem. Especially with tight wallets and limited time frame.
I love this stuff... How could I let it go?
I just don't want to tick off the other guys again.
A few years ago this firm prepared a site plan and staked a line. I went out a year later and found their line to be off by a foot. I talked to the PLS and they had held a Land Court Loop they prepared on the adjacent property. They asked, did I perform a loop survey? I used the road taking loop we ran in the 80's and could explain how Nickerson & Berger set monuments in the 70's that they used instead of the record monuments. The N&B monuments were off by a foot and neither this firm nor the land court caught the issue. The monuments now control for the adjacent subdivision, but they certainly did not control the subject property.
They resurveyed and tied into the record monuments that actually control the subdivision. Their new determination was 0.1' from mine.
These properties are all assessed at 700k-950k, selling for more, and the builder requesting the proposal is high end typically starting at $350 a square foot and going up from there. I do not see tight wallets coming into play. I just need a good way to approach the other firm so they can save face.
0.5' really? Is that a big difference in your area? In my area if I find a corner within 1/2 a foot of where it belongs its time for a party.
A PLS that works kinda in my area just got GPS after doing it the old fashion way all these years.
Maybe on his second job with the GPS, he discovered that a surveyor on the adjoining side had "jumped the line" by 0.8. Very very rough hills and cedar thickets and this was at the back of two large tracts (200 acres) that the owners probably have never even been too.
This GPS newbie turned the other guy into the board. Yup he did.
Dont know what happened or if the Board just got a good laugh out of it.
True Story.
The area is pretty dense and there are some houses right up to lot lines. A half a foot could be important. If I find a record monument within the 0.5' I'd be happy, but a monument set in the last six-months is a far cry from record.
That's a good thing Ted. I wish I was in your shoes and had that option, but this zip code does not provide that option.
I'd say get a retainer first and foremost. Then sit at the table with pencil and paper, maybe some zoning R & R's, and show them the whoze comes and the why for's. They like that. You'll be a hero soon. Cash the check.
In our world this is not rocket science, it's just taking care of things and CYA's.