Surveyor mistake - a big one

[MikePA]

if they have an adverse possession law, and they both meet the requirements, the "believed property lines" become the property lines: so neither loses anything.
heehaw

So, when the neighbor looks at his deed and it says he owns 5.5 acres but the property lines say he owns 4.2 acres he'll figure he didn't lose anything?

 

[sandman2234]

I would think that there could be a variance given, (to the new owner) and let the surveyor purchase the property in question from him to make yours whole again. As long as the zoning board gives him a variance, so he can still build, he might be willing to part with a small piece of his property. The surveyor might be willing to buy it for you, and you might not have to hire an attorney if all of that is agreed to. Otherwise, time to hire them...
David from jax
My understanding of Florida laws are that even if a fence is put in the wrong place, the property is still the owners, not the next door neighbor, no matter what he thinks.
David from jax

 

[RobJ]

That will make for good relations with the neighbor.

"Hi. I'm John. Welcome to the neighborhood. Oh, by the way, I just took a little over an acre of your property. Have a nice day."

I see this a few times. Most people find this stuff out AFTER they sign the papers. Due diligence is best done before you sign.

Maybe its "Hi, I'm your new stupid neighbor because I didn't do my homework before I signed OR I saw the line was different and still signed on the dotted line. Can you move your stuff that's been there for 8 years?"

 

[gotrocks]

The surveyor said the reason the field crew didn't catch it was the length of the two lines was within a couple hundredths of a foot over 633 feet, so they assumed it was the right mark. They never re-checked it on the second survey, they just went off of their stakes in the ground from the first survey.

Reminds me of an old story about "the policeman that jumped on his horse and rode off in all directions"

Did the surveyor forget his compass?

If you want to visit me then take the main road until you get half way and then their is a fork in the road take that and when you come to a line of four houses that look exactly alike, I'm in the middle one.

 

[heehaw]

"So, when the neighbor looks at his deed and it says he owns 5.5 acres but the property lines say he owns 4.2 acres he'll figure he didn't lose anything?"

the neighbor that just sold his property would have to use adverse possession to keep his lines where everyone has thought they should be to keep everything straight...this can domino down the line to several landowners, if they have all met the requirements of adverse possession. but i doubt 8 years would do it.
heehaw

 

[JN4310]

Florida does have an adverse possession law, but it requires that you pay the taxes, apparently for seven years. I haven't, because all of the paper work that was recorded was correct. It was only the stakes in the ground that were wrong, although the surveyor did give me an updated copy of my survey that shows both buildings in the wrong location (50 feet from the property line instead of the actual 10').

I interviewed lawyers this morning and hired one. They are going to research everything and present a list of options with an estimated cost and chance of success. Their costs will be all mine, unless we sue and prevail and get a judge to include costs in the judgement, and then actually get the judgement paid. This sounds like a very expensive PIA to me.

The good news is my septic company will remove the tanik for $650, and then I can get a small sump and pump to connect the guest house to my main house septic system for about $1000. The only catch there is I may have to increase the size of the drain field, which would be much more money. At least I would end up with a really big pile of fill dirt, which around here is like gold.

After that, I might be able to get a 40' variance for the building location, and a 40' utility easement. Welcome to the neighborhood, don't mind the transformer in your front yard! I'm still really upset about the new location of the lot line, and can't help but feel it is going to kill my resale value.

John

 

[heehaw]

i was just reading the Florida adverse possession law: that part about paying the taxes would stop all adverse possession i have ever seen: we pay taxes on what the deed says, not what we use: that one stipulatoin should stop any adverse possession i can think of?? what else is around you and your neighbor? any chance of keeping the lines where you have always "thought" they were, and buying whatever property he or yourself have been using from adjoining landowners?
heehaw

 

[BruceR]

The surveyor said he wants to get together with me to explain how this happened, but it is actually very easy to see.

Ask your Surveyor what the error of closure on his traverse was when he did your survey. It's obvious that he will not be able to give you an answer because they did not survey your property. His field crew simply found two irons of unknown origin and staked a line between them.
You cannot "survey" only one line of a property. I have to try and explain this to clients several times a week and they usually assume I trying to run the bill up because I tell them I need to check any irons found against their counterparts.
Had your surveyor done his job properly, they would have located the companion irons and checked each against the other. Your lot comprises a closed figure and there are very rudimentary checks to insure that the proper corners were located. There is a relationship of angles and distances to your property corners, not just distances. There will always be small discrepancies due to instramental and human error, but they should be small. Within a tenth of a foot at most.

Bruce
RPLS 5781

 

[heehaw]

"My understanding of Florida laws are that even if a fence is put in the wrong place, the property is still the owners, not the next door neighbor, no matter what he thinks."

in most instances, if the owner of the land puts the fence up, say 1`0ft from his property line, he cannot lose the property, but if the neighbor puts the fence up, say 10ft over the line, he can gain the property after 7 years. this thing that Fl has about paying the property taxes would stop that from happening, to bad all states don't appear to have that requirement.
heehaw

 

[DANOCHEESE]

My new neighbor likes to use the PLAT book for his survey. I spent $400 buck to show him that he does'nt own much and that I own three sides of him and he better be nice to me or I will start storing my hog manure next to his house. My north line is 11 inchs from the edge of his house. He is real nice now.