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Errors in title/property lines undisclosed

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debcuyle

Junior Member
WA. I purchased an 1896 home and the neighbor came over with a map showing that I do not own the barn, the shop, most of my pasture and most of my house. I also do not own the/any driveway which leaves me landlocked (the city built this when they took the front portion of the land and built up the road, installed a chain link fence, etc...). I know my title insurance covers legal fees, etc. in this matter, but I would like to know the proper way to pursue this BEFORE I contact them. The neighbor is going to be leasing out the property and I am afraid they will ask my to not use "their" driveway, barn, etc. The purchase agreement, description, etc all state the measurments in the buildings, drive, extra parking etc. The appraiser, owner and iinspector all missed this "minor" detail! Any advice would be helpful as I feel I am killing myself to make huge payments for a property I don't really even own.
 


shortbus

Member
I would be skeptical that one neighbor would know something a whole bunch of paid professionals missed. Get a surveyor to make an independent assesssment. Did anything come up in the preliminary title report?

Even if you have buildings not technically on "your land" you may have acquired rights through adverse possession, prescrtiption or necessity by now. You will need a lawyer to assess that.

The advantage of getting the title insurers on board early is they're motivated to make the problem go away (because they're liable, and god knows they don't want to pay out)
 

jimmler

Member
debcuyle said:
WA. I purchased an 1896 home and the neighbor came over with a map showing that I do not own the barn, the shop, most of my pasture and most of my house. I also do not own the/any driveway which leaves me landlocked (the city built this when they took the front portion of the land and built up the road, installed a chain link fence, etc...). I know my title insurance covers legal fees, etc. in this matter, but I would like to know the proper way to pursue this BEFORE I contact them. The neighbor is going to be leasing out the property and I am afraid they will ask my to not use "their" driveway, barn, etc. The purchase agreement, description, etc all state the measurments in the buildings, drive, extra parking etc. The appraiser, owner and iinspector all missed this "minor" detail! Any advice would be helpful as I feel I am killing myself to make huge payments for a property I don't really even own.
Did you have a boundary survey done when you purchased the house and property? I am guessing not. If there was not a survey done, the title insurance very likely excludes any issues that would have been discovered by the survey.

You need a boundary survey by a licensed surveyor in your state to see what you actually own.

As for the legal questions, I will leave those to the lawyers.

I have been in surveying for 15 years.
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
jimmler said:
Did you have a boundary survey done when you purchased the house and property? I am guessing not. If there was not a survey done, the title insurance very likely excludes any issues that would have been discovered by the survey.

You need a boundary survey by a licensed surveyor in your state to see what you actually own.

As for the legal questions, I will leave those to the lawyers.

I have been in surveying for 15 years.
I agree one hundred percent. Your title insurance won't take the fall for this one; title insurance does not insure boundaries (without a survey). It's on your policy.

I apologize for hijacking (see below) but the question has already been answered correctly by jim and me, so now to other things:

BTW, jimmler: remember that surveyor we were discussing a couple of months ago?

I got another survey from him with three major mistakes: (1) public roadway incorrectly identified (it is a federal highway and he thought it was a state highway); (2) one line in the description went west but the call should've been to the east (duh!); and (3) it didn't close!

When I politely pointed this out to him, he said, "Yeah, my computer has been messing up lately."

Sometimes surveyors screw up deeds worse than lawyers ... and THAT is pretty bad!

(Oh, and to answer your unasked question on why I use him: he is the only one in that area and no one else wants to survey there. Oh ... well!)
 

jimmler

Member
seniorjudge said:
I agree one hundred percent. Your title insurance won't take the fall for this one; title insurance does not insure boundaries (without a survey). It's on your policy.

I apologize for hijacking (see below) but the question has already been answered correctly by jim and me, so now to other things:

BTW, jimmler: remember that surveyor we were discussing a couple of months ago?

I got another survey from him with three major mistakes: (1) public roadway incorrectly identified (it is a federal highway and he thought it was a state highway); (2) one line in the description went west but the call should've been to the east (duh!); and (3) it didn't close!

When I politely pointed this out to him, he said, "Yeah, my computer has been messing up lately."

Sometimes surveyors screw up deeds worse than lawyers ... and THAT is pretty bad!

(Oh, and to answer your unasked question on why I use him: he is the only one in that area and no one else wants to survey there. Oh ... well!)

I am sorry that you have had a bad experience with that surveyor. Most of the surveyors I have worked with have been very diligent in completing survey work correctly, and the type of situation you describe is foriegn to me.

You should find another surveyor that is willing to survey in your area, it may cost you more to get a quality product, but having your property surveyed by a competent surveyor adds value to the property. A good place to start would be your state society of surveyors, a lot of times they have a listing of their members online. Ask for references from the surveyor. It sounds as if your area may be a difficult area to survey, expect to pay more because more research will be required to do the job properly.

J

:)
 

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