Surveyor mistake - a big one

[plowking]

plowking,

Does a lot line adjustment mean someone has to give up some land? I don't think my new neighbor would want to have a smaller lot just because a surveyor made a mistake. The houses are in the first third of the lot (from the street), so move the lot line over 40 or 50 feet would have a huge impact on his property, even if I compensated him with more land in the back. The back of both our lots are basically unusable due to a large wetland that spans both properties.

I'm new to this type of issue, but I really can't figure out a good resolution, short of tearing my homes down and rebuilding them 50 feet away. I also didn't move out to the country to live on a zero lot line property, or have a neighbors fence run thru the middle of 'my' back yard. I really need some good suggestions.....................
I think the lot line adjustment is some give and take,the land behind me was one parcel divided into smaller parcels,they had to have a certain amount of acreage split up between them to be legal lots. My lot line is a abutting line,so I was notified,they moved their lines on other end,sides of land. In New England we have a lot of boundary walls,stone walls that can't be moved. My father ,when he was alive, lived in Spring Hill, had a problem with lot line with his neighbor,I think he had to call the county commissioners. He lived in area of Pasco,Hernandez, Pinellas Counties on Route19 and Route 50. plowking

 

[777777]

Hi,

I ran into the same type of thing on a much smaller scale.

Basically the property line actually ran through an addtion the neighbour had put on his house.
Wasn't picked up on the original survey when I bought my house but was picked up on another survey when neighbour sold his house.

Basic resoluton was as Tommu56 described. Sold only the land necessary to accomodate the problem so my property line ended up as Tommu56 showed in his picture. Just a jut in it. Alternative was to tear down the addition and then have a heck of a mess of a house next door that I may have to live beside for quite a while.

Was a surveyor mistake.

I didn't lose much property and now is clearly pinned everywhere especially where the jut is and then I put a fence 1" over on my side so there would be no further questions.

Life goes on.

Hope your situation works out well and amicably.

Tom

 

[JN4310]

I think the problem with the compromises and lot line adjustments is that I would be getting nice street fronting lawn area, and the new neighbor would be getting more totally unusable wetland area. I haven't met him yet, but it is not a deal l would want to make if I was him. Even if he needs acreage for horses, I don't think there is any usable area I can give him.

I really would like to end up with the best possible solution. If my guest house, or both houses, had to be relocated, it wouldn't be the end of the world. I would rather suffer the short term discomfort but end up with everyone having what they originally intended. The only ones really being impacted (financially) are the surveyor and/or his insurance company. I'm not sure how much I have to compromise to make them happy.

John

 

[JN4310]

I updated the sketch to show roughly where the wetland and buffer area are. The actual distance of the error is 175 feet, or 1.33 acre total.

 

[MarkV]

Boy a 1.33 acre mistake on a 5.5 acre lot is huge and it is going to be expensive for someone. The surveyors insurance is not going to want to put up a penny more than they have to. The new owner next door could well tell you to get your septic off his new property and you have 30 days. He may well have the right to bring in a backhoe and remove the septic without notice, it is on his property. A variance for the building set back would be the cheapest for the insurance but it doesn稚 solve your problem of the loss of privacy and they would most likely say 鉄o what, you don稚 have to move your building and you now have a proper survey. There is no way in my opinion they are going to offer to rebuild the two structures.

Really sorry for your problem but I believe I would already have someone in real-estate law on my side representing me.

MarkV

 

[chh]

I would really advise you to get a good lawyer involved. You don't know and haven't met your new neighbor. He is most likely not going to be happy that what he bought is not what he thought he bought. This could turn into a much larger can of worms than you think if he decides to push the issue from his point of view. Stand firm on a desire to have your property made "whole" or that the surveror's insurance pay to move the buildings, compensate you, or buy your property.
My neighbor's property was surveyed at statehood (1907) here in Oklahoma. A mistake put the property line approx. 50' south of where it was supposed to be. The county built a road which ended up being entirely on the north neighbors property and in fact the property line was 10' to 15' feet past the road easement. Later surveys showed it to be off, but everyone just let it slide with no notes or admendments to the legals until it was sold in the early 80's. The new neighbor wanted "his" property and tried to force the issue of having the road moved which would have put it thru the south landowners house(which had been there 30+ years). There were threats of shootings and several arguments(they where both big horses patoots) until a judge finally ruled that all lines(surface rights, mineral rights stayed as originally assigned) stood as they where when the property was transferred and had a record filed in the deeds to that effect making the county road the actual property line. It was a simple fix to a simple probem that "reasonable" people could have worked out. The problem being that there where no reasonable people involved.

 

[LBrown59]

I've had Surveyors mess up the boundaries on 2 different properties of mine located in 2 different townships of this county.

 

[LBrown59]

Boy a 1.33 acre mistake on a 5.5 acre lot is huge
MarkV

A 1.33 acre error on A 5.5 acre lot makes it a 4.17 acre lot.

 

[Jimbrown]

Lawyer Now

 

[jpm]

get a lawyer now because you'll need one soon rather than later