Survey – Do You Know Your Property Lines?

A past client of one of our agents called for a referral to a surveyor who could help him with a dilemma concerning a boundary line dispute between him and his neighbor. At some point in the past, the neighbor had hired an unlicensed surveyor to put wood stakes in the ground to delineate the boundary line. When the unofficial stakes were installed, the dispute died down since they both somewhat agreed with the location of the markings. After several years passed, the neighbor decided that because the partial survey was unofficial, he could take the liberty of moving the stakes at will, which he did, much to the dismay of the client. The dispute had persisted for many years, even with the previous owner, and was now rekindled. This bickering created a hostile situation where the sheriff was called, and it escalated to the point that legal action was taken and a legitimate surveyor had to be called in to definitively and officially mark the boundary.

Surveyors in this state are required to be licensed and have certain duties. If they record a survey, it must be marked on the ground with pins. Conversely, if they mark it on the ground with pins, an official survey must be recorded at the county auditor’s office. This leaves no doubt as to the authenticity of the markings, though in rare instances, a new survey using newer technology may discover that old survey markings are in error. Those old survey pins, even if definitively debunked, cannot be removed or moved.

If, in the case above, the survey had been officially recorded, the neighbor would have committed a crime by removing or moving the survey pins. This scenario happens frequently, especially between feuding neighbors. If you have a dispute with a neighbor who has recently had a survey completed, refrain from destroying the evidence of that survey and instead call your own surveyor, who can either verify its accuracy and explain its rationale or possibly dispute the neighbor’s new survey. If there is a disparity between the two surveys, you would need to create an official lot line agreement that is recorded and settles the dispute once and for all—or take your chances in court with probably the same outcome, but with a thinner wallet.