Property surveyed without my persmission

[jmwabc]

What is the name of your state? IL

We have lived in our house only 3 months and we have found out that the previous owners and our neighbor were disputing the land line between the properties. No legal action (to my knowledge) was ever taken. This morning I saw people on my neighbors property doing survey work but I didn't think much of it. Later, after they were gone, I saw that there were now 3 stakes in our yard. I was so mad that I removed 2 of them but am now wondering if I shoudn't have done that.
Can someone hire a company to come survey the land without our permission or knowledge and have them put up survey stakes that are at least 3 feet into our property. Our property has been owned by my husbands family for at least a 100 years and it's always been clear on the property line but now this crazy old farmer has decided that after all this time he really owns 3 feet of our property. The stakes now fall on the otherside of a whole line of trees on our property that were planted by my husbands grandfather 17 years ago.

 

[nextwife]

If the survey shows that the property line is where the survey stakes are now sitting, then the "legal description" of the property is likely on that survey line. Thus that three feet may NOT be "your property". If Grandpa did not have benefit of survey when he planted that tree line, how can you know he didn't put those trees in the wrong place, instead of along the legal lot line?

 

[nextwife]

If those stakes were at the neigbors lot line and you removed the survey stakes they had just put in, YOU may end up paying to resurvey.

 

[jmwabc]

I don't know if he had the property surveyed or not, I will have to ask. The neighbor inherited his land and his parents had farmed the land as long as my husbands family has been farming (ie 100 years) and the property lines have always been the same. It is now that the neighbor is claiming the 3 feet. Even if the 3 feet were originally his isn't there some sort of 'statue of limitations'. The house we live in has been here 17 years and before that it was farm land. The land line as I understand it has been in affect for at least 100 years, doesn't that count for something.

Sorry if I'm not making myself clear - I'm finding it hard to thoroughly explain myself without writing a novel.

 

[jmwabc]

<<If those stakes were at the neigbors lot line and you removed the survey stakes they had just put in, YOU may end up paying to resurvey.>>

That is what I'm afraid of. When I removed them I was angry. I don't understand how someone can have your property surveyed without saying anything and without discussing it with us first and then have these stakes put up that are in our way and, as far as I'm concerned until the court says differently, is on our land. Three stakes total where put up but with each 4 foot high stake is another little stake flush with the ground. I did not remove the little stake just the huge eyesore of one.

 

[nextwife]

What is LEGALLY "your land" is that land described and recorded in your county register of deeds office. A survey is a means of showing, on the ground, the actual lines described in the "legal description". While usage may give you the right to make a claim of ownership for lands on which you have been encroaching, ONLY the land described in your legal description is actually "owned" by you at this time. The survey stakes would have been set out to show where the lines described in the legal record sit. The lines, if a boundary survey, would NOT be on "your land", they would be on the line between the land you own and the land he owns. Putting improvements on land NOT owned by you does NOT automatically MAKE it your land, it just makes placement of the improvements an error.

So, the trees DON"T "establish" the lot line, unless they were placed along a survey line where the legal lot line actually is. They are simply where the person who planted them placed them. And a person arbitrarilly placing improvement where they should not go does NOT automatically give them "ownership" of the land on which they have encroached.

FYI- Surveys can be very expensive to do. Pulling the stakes out may have undone a thousand dollars or more worth of work that went into calculating where the lot line LEGALLY is.

 

[geryon]

Three stakes total where put up but with each 4 foot high stake is another little stake flush with the ground. I did not remove the little stake just the huge eyesore of one.

I expect the stakes you removed were just there to make it easy to find the markers that are flush with the ground. At least that is the way our surveyor marked our property lines: 3 foot stake with a flag next to a pipe pounded into the ground. As far as the pipes, or monuments, are concerned they may not be exactly on the property line. You would have to look at the surveyor's report to know where they were placed relative to the actual property lines. Our surveyor actually placed ours 3' inside our property so that they wouldn't have to enter our neighbor's yard or be accessible by them.

By the way, surveyors are allowed to enter your property to perform their task without your permission. Telling you about it is just a courtesy. And, although I seriously doubt anyone would prosecute you for it, removing a surveyor's monument could have criminal as well as civil penalties.

 

[jmwabc]

Geryon,

Thanks for your reply. Now, I'm curious as to whether we have to have the tall 3 foot high stakes in our yard when the small ones are still in the ground? I felt guilty for taking out the 2 stakes so I put back the one close to the road but don't want the one that is next to our driveway. Our driveway is circular and when backing out of our garage or if company is over it would be easy to forget about the big stake and run it over. Ok, so I'm asking do I have to replace that tall stake if the small one is still in the ground? Thanks.

 

[jmwabc]

Nextwife,
So, are you saying there is no such thing as 'statue of limitations'? I'm sure that's not the correct term in this instance but I don't know what the correct term would be. A line of trees for 17 years, lawn that has been maintained and mowed for 17 years and before that farmland that was farmed for 80 years on this 3 feet of property wouldn't negate the neighbors claim to it?

And while this definitely is a civil matter I don't believe it's criminal but like I posted before I replace the tall stake and will replace the other tall stake if I have to. There are still the small stakes in the ground that have not been touched.

 

[seniorjudge]

Generally, surveyors do not need permission to survey anything.

Removing survey markers is a crime in some states.

 

[geryon]

do I have to replace that tall stake if the small one is still in the ground?

Whether you have to or not, in my opinion, you should. You should also be really nice to your neighbor as it is his land you are using, and possibly he really hates the trees that were planted on his land without his consent.

 

[seniorjudge]

Whether you have to or not, in my opinion, you should. You should also be really nice to your neighbor as it is his land you are using, and possibly he really hates the trees that were planted on his land without his consent.

I disagree.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jmwabc
do I have to replace that tall stake if the small one is still in the ground?

jmwabc needs to have the surveyor do this or things could really get messed up.

 

[nextwife]

I disagree.
jmwabc needs to have the surveyor do this or things could really get messed up.

I'm with you on that. ONLY the surveyor should be putting those stakes in.

 

[geryon]

jmwabc needs to have the surveyor do this or things could really get messed up.

I am assuming the tall stake is just to make it easy to find the stake that is flush with the ground (hopefully a metal pipe), which is the actual property marker, and its exact position is not important.

As I said, I had a similar situation with our survey markers. When the neighbor repeatedly knocked over the tall stake, I found their tampering extremely irritating, but it had no effect on the work the surveyor had done as the actual property marker was still in place.

But, of course, I am speculating that the OP's stakes have the same significance as mine...which is up to the OP to ascertain as a fact. OP should probably try to find out who the surveyor was and ask them.

 

[nextwife]

But, as this just happened this morning, we can't know for certain if all surveying work was completed, or they are coming back. If they come back and use the stakes that they THOUGHT they had placed, then that could, I presume, affect other measurments.