Is cable buried (McKinney: appointed, buyer, construction)

[borntosail]

I'm trying to sell a piece of property in McKinney Texas . Deed research shows a At&T easement across the property done in 1947 . Then it shows At&T abandoned the easement in 2003 but says they are not responsible for any buried cable . Buyer wants seller to remove the cable. How do I find out if their is really any cable buried ? Since it most likely dead ,I'm not sure dig test would find any sign of it?
Who do I contact?

[huckster]

Call Miss Dig. It is safe , free and it is the law. I think the tel. # is 811.

Originally Posted by borntosail

I'm trying to sell a piece of property in McKinney Texas . Deed research shows a At&T easement across the property done in 1947 . Then it shows At&T abandoned the easement in 2003 but says they are not responsible for any buried cable . Buyer wants seller to remove the cable. How do I find out if their is really any cable buried ? Since it most likely dead ,I'm not sure dig test would find and sign of it?
Who do I contact?

[Deep Forest]

Originally Posted by borntosail

I'm trying to sell a piece of property in McKinney Texas . Deed research shows a At&T easement across the property done in 1947 . Then it shows At&T abandoned the easement in 2003 but says they are not responsible for any buried cable . Buyer wants seller to remove the cable. How do I find out if their is really any cable buried ? Since it most likely dead ,I'm not sure dig test would find any sign of it?
Who do I contact?

About 811 & Common Ground Alliance | Call 811 - Know what's below

[TrapperL]

Hate to bust everybodies bubble but regardless if cable is there or not, the easement is still there and subject to AT&T at any time. If the concern of the buyer is that there is still an easement, you can get a Letter of Intent from AT&T that they have abandoned the easement and will relinquish any further usage to you the owner. If the cable has been removed, there is still an easement that AT&T can come in and use at their discretion. The Letter of Intent is required in Texas. So the gist here is why fool with locating an unknown when it doesn't matter. Frankly though, my experience with AT&T has been mixed but mostly bad when it comes to them giving up anything. Don't be disappointed if they refuse the Letter of Intent. I'd also be looking for another buyer, unfortunately.

[huckster]

It doesn't burst my bubble. It has nothing to do with my bubble.
Nor does it float my boat.
Borntosail can proceed as he wants with his cable on his property. I would call miss dig about the supposed cable under the patch of ground in McKinney , Texas.
They will locate the cable for you. If it is there. They can make mistakes, miss dig is not infallible.

Originally Posted by TrapperL

Hate to bust everybodies bubble but regardless if cable is there or not, the easement is still there and subject to AT&T at any time. If the concern of the buyer is that there is still an easement, you can get a Letter of Intent from AT&T that they have abandoned the easement and will relinquish any further usage to you the owner. If the cable has been removed, there is still an easement that AT&T can come in and use at their discretion. The Letter of Intent is required in Texas. So the gist here is why fool with locating an unknown when it doesn't matter. Frankly though, my experience with AT&T has been mixed but mostly bad when it comes to them giving up anything. Don't be disappointed if they refuse the Letter of Intent. I'd also be looking for another buyer, unfortunately.

[dastexan]

if AT&T filed of record an abandonment of easement in the public records, then the issues of whether or not AT&T still have any right is probably taken care of.

Then this would lead you to if there are any cable buried there, if 811 doesnt work the only other recourse might be to see if AT&T have any historic records on location of their older cables.

[TrapperL]

if AT&T filed of record an abandonment of easement in the public records,

Obviously not. Otherwise the title search would have found the Letter of Intent to release the easement. They found the easement, I can assure you they would have found the release as well. Personally I'm surprised a Realtor would present a contract like that to begin with. The easement is there, used or not, doesn't matter. Pulling the cable that does not belong to the OP can get him in a lot of legal hassle even though AT&T says they aren't going to do anything with it. (reminds me of kids when one wanted something, so they'd lick it for future claim). He has zero control over the portion of land that is set aside for the easement. So the buyer is asking him to do something that is illegal and beyond his control.

[Rapscallion]

Texas811 would be the first call. The pertinent records at AT&T would be called a PLR. It's an as-built for the plat which contains any construction, or service orders. Any engineer there would have access to them through OPTI, but records keeping isn't always quite what one would hope for. It's possible an abandonment would have been noted if it involved subsequent construction to reroute a trunk.

[dastexan]

Originally Posted by TrapperL

Obviously not. Otherwise the title search would have found the Letter of Intent to release the easement.

The part that confused me and led me to believe something was filed is that OP stated that in 2003 they found that AT&T abandoned the easement. To me that leads me to believe something was found.

Title companies arent smart enough to find something like that when its not filed of record.