Boundary Issues (real estate, insurance, lawyer)

[olgrandad]

Good evening all,

Looking for some feedback on a peculiar boundary issue I'm having in Chatham County. Recommendations for a surveyor and/or real estate attorney are definitely welcome.

An adjacent neighbor to the south is having his land surveyed and the surveyor is telling him that his property should be about 200ft north of where it is. This results in about 2 acres of overlap with me and the surveyor is telling me that my northerly border is fixed, so I'll simply lose the land.

I refuse to accept this and do some research and here's what I discover. The entire area was owned by one man. He handed out parcels to his heirs before he passed after which his heirs took over the remaining land. One of his daughters got the land that my pesky neighbor is now on. While this daughter owned the land (she was the only one on the deed) she and her sister (the heirs) created the parcel that I'd ultimately settle on.

It seems to me that if there were overlap, that she lost all rights to it when she parceled it out and received payment for it (how she divvied it up with her sister is none of my concern.)

The surveyor wants us all to get together and negotiate our borders, otherwise he's going to sink iron pipes on my property, claim it's my neighbor's land and record it with the county.

I don't it's anything nefarious on my neighbor's part. His acreage doesn't increase (he just picks up his boundaries and moves them) and he'll lose 1-2 acres of hardwood while gaining 1-2 acres of scrub plus and easement. His southerly neighbor doesn't gain anything either (hardwood for hardwood) and all of us are surrounded by land owned by the heirs, so it's ultimately them that will gain 2 acres.

At this point I'm pretty sure I need a lawyer and they'll be able to tell me how screwed I am, but I'd love to hear some feedback. I just can't believe that you can get paid for "accidentally" selling 2 acres of land and then get that land back for free 20 years later.

Thanks,
Mark

[BoBromhal]

I am sorry to say that if you didn't get a survey when you bought, you made a huge and now costly mistake. The surveyor is reading a deed and it's description of the boundaries, and marking the points indicated. Yes, you need an attorney and as much a very independent surveyor.

[luv4horses]

If you have title insurance, I would think that would pay you for any deviation in your acreage that comes up. See if you can find your policy and have it ready to share with the attorney that you get.

[DPK]

Get a lawyer and an independent survey done.

[olgrandad]

BoBrohmal, a survey of my property isn't going to help. The original plat & deed coincides exactly with how my property is currently laid out. A surveyor would need permission (and money) from at least 4 different parties covering 50+ acres to complete a comprehensive survey my neighboring properties. I don't know anyone who has ever had such a comprehensive survey done when they bought a home.

Additionally, 6-7 surveys of properties at this end of my street have been performed over the past 44 years by 3-4 different surveyors and not one of them "discovered" this issue. The parcel across the street from my southerly neighbor has the same problem. They were both defined by a now non-existent creek. I believe a survey of that property was done just this year and no issues were discovered.

One neighbor that sits in between me and my southerly neighbor is going to lose the land his house is on if everything goes forward (and yes, his land was surveyed before the house was built.)

I guess I'm just shocked that you can ask 4 surveyors to survey a property and your margin of error ends up being 200ft. I'm beginning to think they're just scam artists if this is how things are done.

[BoBromhal]

when you say the "original plat and deed", then I assume you mean when you purchased the property and your ownership was recorded.

Regardless, reading your original post again, someone at some point - could be this current southerly owner - has an incorrect deed reference/description.