An ALTA Survey, a Hidden Encroachment, and a Client Who Wants a Clean Plat
You are a licensed land surveyor retained by Harbor View Development, a long-time client, to prepare an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey of a 3.2-acre commercial parcel that Harbor View is selling to Coastal Grocers. The purchase agreement gives Coastal 10 days to object. Harbor View's project manager tells you the buyer is "unsophisticated and unrepresented" and asks you to (1) omit Table A item 11 (utilities) and item 13, (2) not show the neighboring restaurant's patio wall that you measured 1.3 ft inside the subject parcel, and (3) simply "show the deed line" because "the wall has been there for 30 years and nobody cares." Separately, you discover a recorded 20-ft public sewer easement that does not appear in the title commitment. The title officer says the lender will require the ALTA survey and a clean plat, and warns that the deal will die if the encroachment is shown. Harbor View's project manager hints that future work depends on your "flexibility."
1. May you accept the deletions and omissions the client requests?
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You may negotiate scope, but you may not use the contract to produce a false or misleading map. The ALTA/NSPS Minimum Standard Detail Requirements require the surveyor to show observed evidence of easements, encroachments, and improvements and to exercise independent professional judgment. Table A items can be added or deleted only by agreement and only where the standards permit; the core requirements are not waivable. The patio wall is a measured encroachment and the sewer line is a recorded interest; omitting either would mislead Coastal and its lender, who will rely on the plat. Your client is Harbor View, but your duty of accuracy runs to those you know will rely. Tell the project manager in writing that you will not omit the items, offer to show them accurately and let the parties negotiate, and document the request. The hint about future work is pressure, not a professional reason.
2. What do you do about the recorded sewer easement that is missing from the title commitment?
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Disclose and depict. Send written notice to Harbor View and the title officer that the recorded 20-ft public sewer easement was found and is not in the commitment as issued. Show the easement on the plat with its recorded reference and add a note that it is not insured by the commitment. A missing title item is a title-company problem to cure, not a survey problem to hide. Recommend a revised commitment and, if the easement affects the building or site improvements, show the relationship graphically. This protects the buyer, the lender, and you. If the title officer resists, put your position in writing and keep it in the file; the record will show that you found and reported the interest.
3. If Harbor View insists and threatens to withhold payment and future work, what are your obligations and options?
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Decline the misleading scope or terminate the engagement in writing, after reasonable notice and consistent with the contract and applicable law on records. You may not sign or seal a map you know to be misleading, and you should not accept an indemnity or hold-harmless that requires you to conceal a fact. Keep your field notes, computations, and correspondence; they are your defense. Separately, check whether the boundary work triggers a Record of Survey under section 8762 because of a discrepancy or a non-record monument; an ALTA plat alone does not necessarily satisfy that filing duty. A threat to withhold future work is not a basis for changing professional judgment. If pressure continues, consult your attorney and consider the Board's guidance on professional conduct; unpaid fees are a contract matter, not a reason to sign a false map.