Finding and Prioritizing Boundary Evidence THREE PHASES OF A RETRACEMENT SURVEY Collect and Analyze the Record Evidence Perform a Field Survey to Search for Evidence Referenced in the Record and Signs of Occupation Harmonize the Record and Field Evidence Using Principles Set by the State Board, Stare Decisis and Other Standards of Practice FIRST, RESEARCH THE RECORD EVIDENCE 1
TYPICAL CONFLICTS Fig.16: Stack of old Deeds The Legal Description in the Deed Has Changed MYSTERIOUSLY APPEARS 25 FEET SECOND, LOCATE THE FIELD EVIDENCE 2
FOLLOW THE INTENT OF THE BOUNDARY LOCATION AS EVIDENCE BY THE RECORD Fig.19: Hidden Agenda Comic WHAT DOES FOLLOW THE INTENT REALLY MEAN? GRANTOR GRANTEE Fig.20: Grantor and Grantee stick figures holding signs A GREAT QUOTE! in determining the locality of a boundary line the inquiry is, where was it, in fact, located? and not, where it ought to have been located. Evans v. Foster et al. (79 Tex. 48, 1890) 3
THIS IS NOT HOW WE FIND INTENT! Fig.21: Magic 8 ball w/ outlook good INSTEAD, USE THESE Fig.22: Original Deeds TYPICAL CONFLICTS Fig.18: Picture of multiple survey pins You Find One of These Suckers 4
TYPICAL CONFLICTS Fig.17: Original Survey and re survey plats The Original Survey and a Re Survey Don t Match HARMONIZE ANY CONFLICTS Harmonize Any Conflicts Between the subject property s record documents Between the subject property s field evidence Between the subject property s record & field evidence Between adjoinders and the subject property TWO TYPES OF CONVEYANCES Fig.7: Picture of Farmland and Estate Fig.8: Aerial Photo of Cluster Home Subdivision 5
RESPECT JUNIOR/SENIOR RIGHTS Fig. 6: Junior/Senior Rights Figures SEQUENTIAL Fig.8: Picture of Farmland and Estate WHY JUNIOR/SENIOR? Deeds are poorly written People convey what they don t own Parent parcels contain less land than their owners thought they did 6
JUNIOR VS SENIOR P buys from A in 1950 the westerly 50 feet of lot a W buys from A in 1960 the easterly 50 feet of lot a Fig.9: AutoCAD Drawing of Intersecting Estates SIMULTANEOUS Fig.10: Aerial Photo of Cluster Home Subdivision SIMULTANEOUS CONVEYANCES Typically in platted subdivisions First, look for blunders Then compare the record and bearing distances to compute new values Fig.11: Subdivision Plat 7
GREEN ACRE SUBDIVISION There is no such thing as the perfect block When the record and measured do not match, and no blunders exist, we proportion Fig.12: Subdivision Plat But proportion ONLY the lots, never the streets FOUR PRINCIPLES OF BOUNDARY RETRACEMENT NETTLEMAN LAND CONSULTANTS, INC. COPYRIGHT 2017 WHAT SURVEYOR S DO Locate Title Boundaries Locate Limits of Possession Locate The Limits Of The Claim Of Right Locate Improvements Locate And Describe Rights In Property 8
HOW A JOB USUALLY STARTS Fig.1: Man On Phone Fig.2: Ownership Deed PERSONALITIES MAY BE INVOLVED! Fig. 3 & 4: People Arguing and Fighting A PROFESSIONAL OPINION Fig.5: Plumber Leak Cartoon 9
PRINCIPLE THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE ORIGINAL SURVEY THAT CREATES THE BOUNDARIES OF A PARCEL ONE ORIGINAL SURVEYOR The land boundary is created only once That creation occurs when the transfer document is executed, such as: Patents Deeds Plats??? 10
RECORD VS RECORD What Happens When Two Deeds for the Same Property Conflict? ORIGINAL SURVEYS According to the US Supreme Court, original surveys are unassailable through the courts It is not your responsibility to "correct" an "error" in the original survey Merely because an original surveys angles and distances do not harmonize with your own measurements does not indicate a blunder Report the discrepancies but do not disregard them 11
PRINCIPLE THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEY ARE: (1)THE RECORD DOCUMENTATION AND (2)THE EVIDENCE LEFT ON THE GROUND BY THE ORIGINAL SURVEYOR RECORD DOCUMENTATION Legal Descriptions in Deeds Survey Plat, Field Notes, and Report FIELD EVIDENCE Monuments Calls for Adjoinders Accessories 12
FOLLOW THE DOCUMENTED RECORDS OF LAND TITLE AFFECTING THE PROPERTY Fig.14: Photo of stack of file folders and papers DOCUMENTS USED TO FOLLOW THE ORIGINAL SURVEYOR Surveyor-Created Documents Survey Plat Survey Report Surveyor-Written Land Description Owner-Created Documents Patents Deeds Easements 13
EXAMPLE OF EVIDENCE OF FOLLOW A lot is created by a surveyor in 1938 The lot is re-surveyed in 1947, 1971 and 2001. You find evidence from all four surveys. What should you do? Which evidence MUST you follow? Which evidence MAY you follow? When may you set your own monuments that contradict prior surveys? LEVELS OF AUTHORITY Federal Authority: GLO/BLM State/Local Authority: State or County Surveyors No Authority: Private Surveyors LEVELS OF AUTHORITY Fig.15: Photo of lakefront home 14
WHEN RENDERING YOUR OPINION RESPECT THE COMMON LAW AND STATUTORY LAW OF YOUR STATE Fig.23: Red flag stating your opinion counts SOURCES OF LAW STATUTORY LAW COMMON LAW Fig.24: Congress Fig.25: Judge w/ Gavel 15
WHAT THE LAW TELLS US If I find a conflict between parcels, how should it be resolved? If some evidence within a parcel conflicts with others, what should I do? How long do I have to hunt for a corner before I call it quits? MULTIPLE SOVEREIGNTIES Fig.26: Map of United States Record Research 16
NAME YOUR FAVORITE SOURCES! County/City Courthouse Federal Bureau of Land Management State Archives / Govt Agencies County Roads, Tax Assessor, etc. Utilities: RR, Power/Gas/Light START WITH THE BASICS! This may sound dumb but there are some surveyors that don t research the record before beginning their surveys Easement One, Surveyor Zero 17
COURTHOUSES Property Deeds Subdivision Plats Easements Liens TIPS FOR RESEARCHING PROPERTY DEEDS Begin with the newest record and work backwards You don t have to research back to the beginning of time unless there s a problem Be On-Guard for Mistakes or Errors COMMON STATE RECORDS GIS Clearinghouses State Archives State Agencies Public Libraries 18
STATE ARCHIVES State Archives identifies, collects, provides access and preserves a state s historical documents Great, Central Source to Begin Search Remember, Not All Archives Are Well Organized STATE ARCHIVES Government Records, Including: Legislative Bills and History State Acts, Rules, & Codes Minutes of State Agencies Minutes of City/County Agencies And Lots More! ADMIN RECORDS Local Govt Usually Keep Good Records Examples: Road Comm, Zoning Comm, Subd Approval Many Not Digitized 19
BIBB v. MONROE COUNTY, GA TERMINATING AT THE FERRY LANDING But Which One? TAX ASSESSORS Primary Purpose: Assess and Tax Citizens Created to Tax, Accuracies Reflect That Much Info Manually Typed (i.e. Land Description) Be Careful! 20
BUT THE ASSESSOR S MAP SHOWS MY BOUNDARY! BUT THE ASSESSOR S MAP SHOWS MY BOUNDARY! TITLE COMPANIES Great, Central Sources But Expect You to Pay 21
NAME SOME AGENCIES BUREAU OF LAND MGT Website has 5+ million land records! Federal Land Patents Survey Plats Field Notes Land Status Records Control Document Index NATIONAL GEODETIC SURVEY The Mission of NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is "to define, maintain and provide access to the National Spatial Reference System to meet our nation's economic, social, and environmental needs." 22
NATIONAL GEODETIC SURVEY NGS provides the framework for all positioning activities in the Nation. HZ Control V Control CORS Standards for leveling, GPS, mapping And a whole lot more USGS Topo Maps Aerial Photos (NAPP) Sat Images EARTH EXPLORER 23
PRIVATE SURVEYORS Your Friend! FIELD SURVEYS LOCATING FIELD EVIDENCE The only Field Evidence that matters is what is called-for in the Record (Except evidence of Occupation / Prescription) But determining which evidence to accept and reject is why they Surveyors exist! 24
PROPER FIELD SURVEYS FOLLOW THE WRITTEN RECORD Knowing what to search for from: Patents Deeds Other conveyances Survey plats Survey Fieldnotes Survey reports THE STORY OF THE REI COMPASS EVIDENCE OF OCCUPATION: A RED FLAG Google Bad Survey 25
FINDING FIELD EVIDENCE IS LIKE SOLVING A JIGSAW PUZZLE PUZZLE PIECES Record Evidence From Your Parcel Record Evidence From Adjoining Parcels Parol Evidence Previously Located Field Evidence PROFESSIONAL OPINIONS 26
MEET THE MINIMUM STANDARDS KNOW THE (CHANGING) LAW 27
UNDERSTAND OUR TIME-HONORED PRINCIPLES Appreciate the differences between simultaneous and sequential conveyances Follow the priority of calls Walk in the footsteps of the original surveyor Follow the (written) intent of the parties APPRECIATE THE DIFFERENCES You MUST follow some And You MAY follow other types of evidence 28
EVIDENCE YOU MUST FOLLOW Original Survey Original Creation Documents GREAT QUOTES! The original surveyor has created new boundaries, boundaries that did not exist prior to the survey. An original survey fixes the boundaries on the ground forever. There can only be one true location of the boundaries of an original survey: the locations established by the original surveyor GREAT QUOTES! a surveyor must attempt to track the original surveyor's work using whatever recoverable evidence that exists. Ultimately, a surveyor may only be able to say with a great degree of certainty, this is where the surveyor walked. 29
EVIDENCE YOU MAY FOLLOW Re-Surveys Later Conveyances A FORUM THREAD ACCURACY VS PRECISION 30
S = R * Theta A 100 foot line is surveyed using: 15 Minutes From the True Value = +/- 2.18 1 Minute From the True Value = +/- 0.145 5 Second From the True Value = +/- 0.012 31