Mortgage Inspection Report..Loan Survey...
lots of different names for them...simply a sketch of usually a residence with more disclaimers than dimensions. I would like to see our State disallow these completely in favor of a honest-to-God Property Survey.
Here's what our Oklahoma Minimum Standards allow in this area:
"Mortgage Inspection Report. A Professional Land Surveyor may, based upon their general knowledge of land boundaries and monuments in a given area, prepare a Mortgage Inspection Report for the use of a specific client. Such report shall be prominently labeled ‘Mortgage Inspection Report’ and shall not be designated as or construed as being a Land or Boundary Survey, and the statement furnished on the certificate shall be similar to the following form:
MORTGAGE INSPECTION REPORT
‘This Mortgage Inspection Report was prepared for …(individual or firm)…. It is not a land or boundary survey plat, and it is not to be relied upon for the establishment of fence, building or other future improvement lines. The accompanying sketch is a true representation of the conditions that were found at the time of the inspection, and the linear and angular values shown on the sketch, if any, are based on record or deed information and have not been verified unless noted.’"
I'm sure the Real Estate Industry loves these. At closing, they call them "surveys" and charge $300 (I'm sure the surveyor got half or less of that). I can't count the number of times a client or adjoiner has waved one these and insisted I was wrong. I would like to see them go the way of the dip needle.
Is there any other States that have gotten rid of these?
What is/was the problem with a dip needle?
Okay Paden, let's cut off the surveyor from another service and let some other group do them-maybe the real-estate agents will do them. Heck, we surveyors have so much work we can do with out them.
People can wave them in your face all they want. All you have to do is point out the notations on the sketch. In Maine they are called "Mortgage Loan Inspections" and clearly state that they are not land surveys.
Their accuracy left a lot to be desired.
> Is there any other States that have gotten rid of these?
Texas did quite a while ago. There is a downside to abolishing the survey-looking things that don't replace missing monuments as a boundary survey would. It is that the market for quick'n'cheap residential surveys will continue unabated and with the result that probably more than 75% of the residential surveys I see have some significant defect in them. At least the mortgage loan inspections didn't leave new boundary markers.
No such thing in Florida, but like Kent said, I also see PLENTY of terrible boundary surveys.
Texas did quite a while ago
Kent: How did Texas do that? Did the the BOR say that surveyors can't perform them? Frankly, I can't imagine how an outright ban could be constitutional if fully challenged in court. MLIs are a service for banks. They could almost be as easily performed by an appraiser or others.
Apparently my Iowa Code Online link isn't available today (neither is the state's website). Otherwise, I would copy & paste Iowa Code Section 542B.35 here.
Essentially, it says that a "real property inspection report" is NOT a property survey and anyone preparing them CANNOT claim to be a land surveyor. Further there is some disclosure language that needs to be put on the face of the report stating its not a survey and boundaries are approximate only.
Personally, I don't give a flip whether they continue to exist or not, but I do believe that the public needs to be made more aware of what these things are not. Perhaps a law stating that banks or whoever is requesting these things provide the buyer/homeowner with information about them.
I blogged about "Sally from Ohio" back in January 2009. Sally had a problem between her "mortgage survey" and her neighbors boundary survey.
Actually..........
Mortgage loan Inspections will be discontinued by the banks because their own studies have shown that they can insure against the types of things that the inspections find more cheaply than paying for an inspection.
Now, what does that say about more accurate and expensive land surveys?
Standards of Practice
>How did Texas do that? Did the the BOR say that surveyors can't perform them?
The BOR adopted rules about the monumentation of boundaries and what work had to be undertaken in the performance of a survey. Since a Mortgage Loan Inspection represents a surveyor's opinion about the locations of parcel boundaries, it falls within the definition of professsional land surveying.
It should be obvious that the delineation of parcel boundaries is an integral part of the Mortgage Loan Inspection. That is what makes it a survey regardless of the tricky disclaimers.
