The Friday Closing, the Missing Neighbor, and the Seal in the Drawer
A developer client in Reno asks you to prepare a boundary line adjustment that will enlarge his Lot 7 by about 0.3 acre so it meets the lender's minimum lot size before a Friday closing. The adjustment moves the common line with Parcel B roughly 15 feet west. Parcel B's owner lives out of state, has never answered the developer's letters, and the developer says, 'His lawyer can sort out the paperwork after closing. Just show the new line on the map and I will get it signed later.' Your field evidence places the existing common line along a fence that agrees with a 1978 record of survey within 0.05 foot. Separately, the developer asks that your unlicensed field technician sign and seal the plat while you are on vacation, using 'your stamp that is in the drawer.' He offers a $4,000 expedite fee if both jobs are finished by Thursday.
1. Can you show the 15-foot relocation on the plat? Explain your obligations and describe the lawful path to the client's goal.
Read the worked answer
No. A surveyor locates and depicts a boundary from evidence and record; a surveyor does not relocate a boundary because a client needs more area. Your evidence puts the line on the fence, and the 1978 record of survey corroborates it within 0.05 foot. Drawing a line 15 feet west and presenting it as the property line would be a false depiction of title, would mislead the lender and any later purchaser, and would be unprofessional conduct subject to discipline under Nevada's licensure statutes (NRS Chapter 625) and Board regulation, with potential civil liability to the adjoining owner.
The lawful path: obtain the Parcel B owner's written consent to a boundary line adjustment, prepare the map clearly labeled as a proposed adjustment (not as an existing boundary), obtain the required local government approval under the applicable boundary line adjustment or parcel map procedure, execute the deeds or agreement, and record. If the owner never consents, the adjustment does not happen. 'Sign it later' is not a workaround; recording a plat that moves another owner's line without consent is exactly the harm the process exists to prevent. Offer the client the correct path in writing and let them decide on the schedule.
2. The technician signing and sealing the plat. What is your answer, and why does it matter even though you would review it later?
Read the worked answer
Refuse, and secure the seal. In Nevada, only the licensee may sign and seal, and only for work performed by the licensee or under the licensee's responsible charge. Letting an unlicensed technician apply the stamp is misrepresentation, may be a criminal offense as well as a Board violation, and would be indefensible regardless of later review: the seal is a personal attestation at the moment of signing that the signer directed the work and accepts responsibility for it.
A technician may perform field and office work under supervision; that is how people gain experience. What the technician may not do is hold out as the surveyor of record. If the schedule cannot be met with you present and in responsible charge, the answer is to move the deadline, not the seal.
Document the request and your refusal in writing, keep the seal in your control, and if the client indicates they will obtain a stamp elsewhere, consider whether a report to the Board is warranted.
3. The contingent expedite fee, and what you should put in the file before the week ends.
Read the worked answer
A fee contingent on a particular professional outcome is improper, because it purchases a conclusion rather than a service. A premium for a faster schedule is different and can be acceptable if the compressed schedule does not compromise field work, review or the integrity of the result; here, though, the fee is tied to finishing both a boundary change you cannot lawfully make and a sealing violation you must refuse, so it cannot be accepted in that form.
For the file before Friday:
- An email or letter to the client restating, in plain terms, what was requested, what you declined and why.
- A written offer of the compliant alternative with a realistic schedule.
- Your field evidence and the 1978 record comparison documented and dated.
- Any revised scope, fee and schedule executed in writing by both parties.
If the client continues to press for the false line or the borrowed seal, terminate the engagement in writing. Retain the records; they are your defense, and they may be needed by the Board or by the adjoining owner.