Original Pipes, a 1972 Fence, and a Shed on the Record Line
A 1925 plat of Block 2, Riverside Addition, shows Lot 7 with a record frontage of 60.00 ft and a depth of 125.00 ft. You find the original 1-inch iron pipe at the NW corner and another original iron pipe at the SW corner; the measured bearing and distance between them agree with the plat within 0.03 ft. No original monument remains at either east corner. A chain-link fence installed about 1972 runs roughly parallel to the west line and lies 1.6 ft west of the position obtained by holding the plat's record bearing and 60.00-ft width from the found west line. The neighbor's shed straddles that fence near the rear. The owner wants you to 'set the corners on the fence line because that is where the boundary has always been.' The lot is not registered land. You must decide what to set and what to show on the survey.
1. Which evidence controls the location of the east lot line, and what boundary should you set?
Read the worked answer
The controlling evidence is the two found original iron pipes at the NW and SW corners. They are original plat monuments and fix the west line. From that fixed line, the plat's record bearing and 60.00-ft width establish the east line; the east corners are then set at the record positions. Original monuments outrank record distances and angles, but here the monuments do not conflict with the record width-they merely fix the line from which the width is measured. The fence is not a called-for monument; it is evidence of occupation. Occupation can support a practical-location or adverse-possession claim, but it does not authorize a surveyor to relocate the record boundary. The survey should show the record east line, the fence as an occupation line, and the 1.6-ft offset. The shed should be shown because it is a physical encroachment across the occupation line. Do not set the corners on the fence unless a court adjudicates the boundary or the parties execute a valid boundary agreement.
2. How should the survey plat and your communication to the client address the 1.6-ft strip and the shed?
Read the worked answer
Show both lines clearly: the record lot line and the fence/occupation line, with a dimension of 1.6 ft between them and a note locating the shed relative to both. Label the fence as 'fence-occupation line, not record boundary' rather than calling it the boundary. Explain that the record line is the line established by the original monuments and plat, but a long-standing fence can be relevant to boundary by practical location, acquiescence, or adverse possession. Minnesota's adverse-possession statute, Minn. Stat. § 541.02, uses a 15-year period, and the fence has existed far longer, but the surveyor does not decide title. The client should be told that the neighbor may claim the strip and that resolution requires a written boundary agreement, a quiet-title action, or legal advice. The survey should not omit the discrepancy or silently adopt either line.