quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
"Trust, but verify."

And memorialize.

And a fence isn't a bad way to memorialize.

They're going to have a six-foot high memorial, lol.

I vote for eight feet with solar panels on top.

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
"Trust, but verify."

And memorialize.

And a fence isn't a bad way to memorialize.

In Whackyland, there is a provision to record a Record of Survey in Official Records so it pops up in the chain of title. It may be mandatory in some situations.

Fences wear out, can be moved (not easily), need maintenance etc. Official Records are there forever.

Maybe a boundary agreement describing the survey which is agreed represents the settled boundary.

One of my jobs while in law school was searching official records prior to 1931 at the recorder's office, all the way back to statehood in 1849.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
I vote for eight feet with solar panels on top.

I wish it was allowed.

quote:

Originally posted by Tejas421:
You might also want to have the survey rechecked. Surveyors are human and make mistakes. Several years ago I also had a surveyor tell me my property was larger than I thought. I didn't believe him and had it rechecked. Sure enough, he was wrong; the old property lines were confirmed.

This may still be a good idea if there's any question. I was once surprised to learn there are varying degrees of "precision" in these surveys.

Folks misremembering where the boundaries are is also common. I had a client swear up and down that her neighbor had rebuilt his fence five feet onto her property. She was sure because he had had to remove a small flower bed that was on her property. She was ready to file a lawsuit, but I ordered a survey first. I made sure the surveyor understood we had a boundary dispute. He started from scratch, ignored the existing markers, went back to the original plats for the subdivision, metes and bounds, whatever, etc. The new fence was exactly on the property line.

Surveying can be complicated.

Many maps are based on the old original surveys. US Government Surveys may be wrong in the sense that the distances and courses don't jibe with modern measurement techniques, but there is a hierarchy of precedences that control in case of conflict.

In one case I was involved in many years ago, the marker of a section center had been unlocated on the ground for many decades. Several transactions and maps had been accomplished in the assumption that it was where it ought to be, even though no record of it being seen existed, and a number of survey notes reported it was not found.

Lo and behold, someone found a stone vaguely the size and shape described in the survey notes many hundreds of feet from where in theory it ought to have been. It had markings barely discernible with some imagination lending credence to the conclusion that this was in fact the marker placed by the survey party in the 1880's. The judge agreed, and owing to some informality on the part of someone preparing legal descriptions back in the '30's, the south eastern portion of that section no longer existed.

In another case, several surveys conflicted by more than 1,300' in the location of a certain corner of a Rancho.

It happens.

The man who wrote the book, Curtis Brown, was retired in San Diego and I had a chance to visit with him. He pointed out in his book that surveys in Texas were often informal. If the surveyors notes mentioned a certain Spanish name as being one of the survey party, that was a signal to other surveyors that the survey was an "office survey."

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:


The man who wrote the book, Curtis Brown, was retired in San Diego and I had a chance to visit with him. He pointed out in his book that surveys in Texas were often informal. If the surveyors notes mentioned a certain Spanish name as being one of the survey party, that was a signal to other surveyors that the survey was an "office survey."

We did a refinance, and the title company said we'd need a new survey, even though the old one was only four years old. Surveys from the company that did the original one were no longer acceptable to the insurers.

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Originally posted by Dallas239:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:


The man who wrote the book, Curtis Brown, was retired in San Diego and I had a chance to visit with him. He pointed out in his book that surveys in Texas were often informal. If the surveyors notes mentioned a certain Spanish name as being one of the survey party, that was a signal to other surveyors that the survey was an "office survey."

We did a refinance, and the title company said we'd need a new survey, even though the old one was only four years old. Surveys from the company that did the original one were no longer acceptable to the insurers.

I should have added that the surveys Brown was talking about were original surveys from 100 years ago or more, not current modern surveys. I apologize for the omission, and inference.

No telling what the title company was worrying about.

Even though your neighbor has been mowing the strip haven't you been paying taxes on it based on the original property description and isn't that what the survey was based on?

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Originally posted by smlsig:
Even though your neighbor has been mowing the strip haven't you been paying taxes on it based on the original property description and isn't that what the survey was based on?

Yes.