I work for a forest management company with land all over the northern half of Maine. This includes several thousand miles of property lines varying from newly spotted and painted to non-existent. I consider myself pretty good about finding old lines and knowing when they are in the right place... I won't honor an old line if I'm not confident it's right.
A couple of months ago an abutter contacted us and said that he didn't feel our line was in the right place. The forester in charge went out and visited him but it appeared he was basing his opinion merely on the tax maps... which are notoriously inaccurate. Still, we agreed to cost share a survey before we ever planned harvest activity. Recently I was reading deeds while helping decide if another tract in that same town needed a survey (it does) and started perusing his. It took me several days of reading until my eyes crossed as there were so many problems with his description; his land had been sold several times in the last 80 years there were originally 3 different parcels combined to one; and every time a transfer was done a bit more was left out of the description. Finally though I realised that what he was saying was right and went out for a site visit in hopes of a quick remedy. (I even brought my axe and paint.) As soon as I saw the post we called our corner I realised that I need to call in the cavalry- AKA a licensed surveyor. That shade of orange paint hasn't even been made in almost 50 years; it's been that long since the lines were right. It wouldn't surprise me if they've been wrong since the original lot was carved out just after WWII. We had no way of knowing, as we were just going by old, vintage evidence.
Everybody can tell you where your lines are; your neighbor, the previous owner, the realtor; yet if you aren't proficient at reading deeds, a good surveyor is the best person to talk to.
A couple of months ago an abutter contacted us and said that he didn't feel our line was in the right place. The forester in charge went out and visited him but it appeared he was basing his opinion merely on the tax maps... which are notoriously inaccurate. Still, we agreed to cost share a survey before we ever planned harvest activity. Recently I was reading deeds while helping decide if another tract in that same town needed a survey (it does) and started perusing his. It took me several days of reading until my eyes crossed as there were so many problems with his description; his land had been sold several times in the last 80 years there were originally 3 different parcels combined to one; and every time a transfer was done a bit more was left out of the description. Finally though I realised that what he was saying was right and went out for a site visit in hopes of a quick remedy. (I even brought my axe and paint.) As soon as I saw the post we called our corner I realised that I need to call in the cavalry- AKA a licensed surveyor. That shade of orange paint hasn't even been made in almost 50 years; it's been that long since the lines were right. It wouldn't surprise me if they've been wrong since the original lot was carved out just after WWII. We had no way of knowing, as we were just going by old, vintage evidence.
Everybody can tell you where your lines are; your neighbor, the previous owner, the realtor; yet if you aren't proficient at reading deeds, a good surveyor is the best person to talk to.