My survey, not my land - can i remove stakes?

[HBiz]

What is the name of your state? Michigan

Hello, I was attempting to purchase a home in Lapeer County, MI.
I paid $1,100 for a boundary survey. The surveyors placed stakes in the ground on the property. Well, the deal fell through and I didn't end up getting the home. I asked the owners if I could remove my stakes from the ground. They replied "no, you are not allowed on the property PERIOD. Please cease and desist all communication with us".

Am I legally allowed to go onto the property and remove them? If not, am I allowed to get permission from the neighbors to go onto their property and remove MY stakes??

Am I allowed to remove them at all? After all, the survey belongs to me...

[xylene]

Originally Posted by HBiz

Am I legally allowed to go onto the property and remove them?

Why would your bad land deal allow for you to trespass? (and steal / vandalize)

If not, am I allowed to get permission from the neighbors to go onto their property and remove MY stakes??

Please. "I'll just reach over" is not a defense to traspassing (or theft or vandalism...)

Am I allowed to remove them at all? After all, the survey belongs to me...

Does it? How, why and what your purchase contract said would dictate if they need to repay your survey.

Next time you spend 1,100 dollars on property you don't own make sure contingency is written into your agreement.

[ADBunting]

See if it contains any provisions for splitting costs or who pays for what. It should have been made pretty clear who is paying for certain items, like splitting closing for instance.

If there isn't anything contained about surveys then you could potentially do one of three things.

Chalk it up to experience, offer to sell it to them (which sounds like it's not going to happen given what you said) or take them to small claims court and cross your fingers.

Just out of curiosity, what's so special about those particular stakes anyway. I've got a few because of new street poles being put up and they're just fluro pink pieces of wood.

April

[Ozark_Sophist]

No. It is against the law to remove, move, or otherwise tamper with boundary pins. It is also against the law to trespass to remove the wood stakes marking the boundary pins. If done correctly, the stakes are within the corner of the property surveyed, so even if you stood on a neighboring property, you would trespass by reaching across the line to reach the stake.

[FlyingRon]

You don't own the stakes. Once they were pounded into the ground that you didn't own, they were the property of the person who does own it.

[LindaP777]

People often confuses the little wooden posts with the orange flags as some sort of survey pin. The little makers just draw attention to the metal stakes that have been put in the ground when the property was originally surveyed.
I think he just wanted to remove the stakes, not the pins. But I agree, he still can not trespass.

[HBiz]

I worked it out with the owner. This was a forclosed property and the reason that I paid for the boundary survey was because there was a potential encroachment issue. Since there were no disclosures made by the bank who owned it, I had to pay for inspections and surveys myself to see if the property was worth purchasing. I lost out to another bidder, but I did not want the other bidder to have access to the survey that I paid for.

In any event, the bank (who still owns the property until closing) allowed me access to remove the survey stakes / pins. The only reason that I wanted the option to do so is because the listing realtor was extremely shady and underhanded since HER clients were the ones who were bidding against me. She was actually withholding information that we were trying to get to the bank / owner and now we are pursuing an ethics complaint against her because of all this. Needless to say, I did not want to do her or her clients any extra favors.

Thanks for the input.

[Ozark_Sophist]

If you removed the pins, you have committed a crime. Not only are you subject to criminal penalties for each pin you removed, you can be sued to have the property resurveyed.

[FlyingRon]

Originally Posted by LindaP777

People often confuses the little wooden posts with the orange flags as some sort of survey pin. The little makers just draw attention to the metal stakes that have been put in the ground when the property was originally surveyed.
I think he just wanted to remove the stakes, not the pins. But I agree, he still can not trespass.

I'm not confusing anything. They are now a fixture of a property he doesn't own. He has no grounds to remove them.

[Ozark_Sophist]

Originally Posted by FlyingRon

I'm not confusing anything. They are now a fixture of a property he doesn't own. He has no grounds to remove them.

And he did. Anyone willing to bet OP will be back when new owners or neighbors sue for removal of pins? OP never clarified that the pins were set by his surveyors or simply located. My bet is they were simply located.

[Ozark_Sophist]

On the plus side, when OP has to get the property resurveyed, I'm sure his surveyor will give him some sort of discount.

[lizjimbo]

In the Book of Dueteronomy, God calls for the supreme punishment for anyone moving his neighbors Boundary Stone. Land surveying must be the worlds second oldest profession, after lawyers.