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Can a survey be drawn up if I had a copy of the description (degrees, minutes, distance) of the property without having to pay for a new survey?
thanks,
Dan
- 16 Replies
The short answer to your question is “no”.
The slightly longer answer is “yes, but no surveyor with ethics would stamp or sign the plan”.
What you are describing is just one step in the process of deed / plan research, measurement of physical evidence, and comparing the physical evidence with the record evidence to figure out where the boundaries of a lot are found on the ground. Only after that work is done, may a surveyor ethically draw a plan showing the lot boundaries and/or stake them out on the ground.
Survey? No. Sketch? Maybe.
Survey is the fieldwork part, and the Map or Record of Survey is, really, just a report of the results. Without the fieldwork there is no survey.
It may be possible to make a sketch of the dimensions reported in the legal description. Maybe, depending on the form of the description. And the reported dimensions may, or may not, represent the actual dimensions on the ground.
Surveying is not simply a mathematical exercise. All your neighbors have deeds, too. Some of them may be in conflict with yours. A big part of boundary resolution is figuring out whose rights are senior.
Anyone with the knowledge of description writing can put together a description that closes mathematically. Taking that description to the field and locating where it is supposed to be is an entirely different thing. The normal course of events is that the field work is completed such that the parties involved agree that the actual lines on the land are where they are desired to be, then the description is written and the drawing (Plat) is prepared.
A description, by itself, may not describe what was intended.
An example from my own experience. I was hired by a lending agency to perform what is known as a mortgagee title inspection of a two-acre tract based on an existing description. Within the first 30 minutes on site, I knew there was a problem. The south line of the property, per the description, was running through the center of fairly new building. I contacted the lending agency to explain how this problem must be rectified by preparing a full survey of what was intended to be sold, preparing a new description for the tract to be sold, a new description of the remainder tract which would be impacted by the change of boundaries and whatever else might be required to keep existing leinholders happy. It turned out that a couple had divorced, with the wife getting the house and buildings and the husband getting the remainder tract, which was open pasture land. Fortunately, this was a friendly divorce and both parties agreed to agree. Several years earlier, they had had the opportunity to refinance their house and make certain improvements which included the building that I had found to be on both tracts. The couple had made the measurements, themselves, and someone at that lending agency had assisted in writing the description that had been recorded for the loan at that time and which became the description used for the divorce agreement. The wife, who was the seller in my case, told me how they had measured the tract. “Well, we went to the corner post at the road of the fence along the east side and measured south until we were about five feet south of the new building.” The deed said the description began “On the section line”. The section line was 30 feet north of the corner post. Thus, the south line was legally 30 feet north of the intended location, which put it running through the center of the building. OOPS!
Everything was fine until Cow showed up…
Yup, spent five minutes longer on site than he should have for a simple, cheap, do-it-blindfolded mortgage inspection…
without having to pay for a new survey?
OF all the folks that do nothing, by varying degrees…. (ie lawyers, title agents, realtors, neighbors, honest folks, etc) a good surveyor is an invaluable tool in the process. And, to cut his fees, is the WRONG place to “Save Money”.
Nate
Dan, post your description here. See what happens.
Survey map without monuments is like a pie crust with no filling.
Sounds like a deed plot to me.
A deed plot is the first step in preparing for a survey.
.Dan, your profile says licensed in NJ, which seems wrong as I’m sure you are not a surveyor.
@wendell I see that happen a lot. Should you clarify the registration form?
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@wendell I see that happen a lot. Should you clarify the registration form?
At this point, I’m not going to make any more changes to this website (other than security-related updates) until rpls.com is launched, since it’s a completely different profile system.
Your friendly, virtual neighborhood Webmaster
Even though surveys and descriptions go hand in hand, they are two distinctly different things.
Many realtors have a program they can use to input deed calls, get a closure report, and print it on the office printer. Just like anything you get what you pay for. Let the user beware.
If all you need is a graphical depiction of the metes and bounds text, try http://platplotter.appspot.com/ . It also can output a KML file to import into Google Earth–again, just for a rough, unofficial graphic to get you into the ballpark, if used correctly of course.
Simple answer is yes. An owner of land can draw his own drawing and write his own metes and bounds for his property. There are MANY caveats that apply when you do this, however.
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