Really quite believable
The writing is now on CBS News's website, check it out.
I am curious; it appears that many of you think this is a bad thing but upon initial inspection it appears to be a good thing to me. If title agencies are facing significant losses as a result of their low bid survey regardless of quality policy it will force title agencies and attorneys to raise their survey standards. I personally have no issue with bad surveys being taken to task.
I also would speculate that there are a fair number of surveyors issuing fraudulent surveys. For example last week I was given a old survey of a 20 acre nominal tract of land. His survey showed it as a perfect 20 acres with (MEASURED) ties to a 90 degree 5280 section. We had some great original surveyors here but I have yet to measure a 90 5280 section.
If the low bid surveys are deficient and/or fraudulent and it cost the title agencies big bucks, I think that would change surveying for the better. Imagine competing on quality rather than price!! Maybe we could make some money!
On a side note, I have only done one Alta survey in the last year because my prices our routinely 3-4 times the low bid. I bid one Alta survey a few months ago along with 5 other surveyors, the bids were as follows:
Me: 4,300
firm 2: 4,000
firm 3: 4,460
firm 4: 4,650
firm 5: 695
Firm 5 got it
This would be part of the surveyor's due diligence.
> Brad
Rare is the PTR that provides all info that a surveyor requires. It is much like the assessors maps. Just a bunch of info that provides a focus for fact checking.
I don't focus on limiting my service to the bare minimum to avoid errors and ommissions by others who are not my employees acting in my interest and my clients interest.
For any boundary survey, ALTA being on one type, I do all that is necessary. Every once in a while you run into one that is abscent any anomalies. Every once in a while you get one that requires 30 title docs back to patent, and even throw in a few RR R/W with an irrigation canal thrown into the mix.
I do as much as necessary in each unique case to protect ME FIRST. That typically serves to protect EVERYONE ELSE involved with the project.
More than half the time when I have a PTR, they follow up with my list of their errors and ommissions and update the report. About half of them do aid with obtaining additional docs if you define them. They never provide a copy of the many docs they reference in the report. You must ask for them. Some will reply, that's not our job, go see the county recorder.
