Sealing a Technician's GIS-Based Survey Under Pressure
A developer asks you to sign and seal a boundary survey of a 120-acre tract that was prepared by an unlicensed technician. The technician used the county GIS parcel map and a 1970s tax map, did not search for monuments, and computed the area as 123.4 acres. The deed calls for 'the E½ of the SE¼ and the SE¼ of the NE¼' of Section 9, containing 120 acres, more or less. The developer says that if your sealed survey shows at least 123 acres, a lender will fund the project; he offers a $5,000 'rush bonus' and hints that he will complain to the Board if you refuse. You previously surveyed the adjoining 80-acre tract for another client and know that a fence 25 ft inside the deed line has been treated as the boundary for 30 years. The adjoining owner is not a party to this request.
1. Can you sign and seal the technician's survey? Identify the specific ethical and legal problems.
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No. The survey was not prepared by you or under your responsible charge, and the technician's use of GIS and a tax map without a monument search is not an acceptable boundary survey for a 120-acre PLSS tract. Signing and sealing it would misrepresent the work and could violate Oklahoma licensure law and Board rules on responsible charge, competence, and professional conduct. The area discrepancy is also a red flag: the deed describes aliquot parts totaling 120 acres, more or less, and the 123.4-acre figure came from tax maps, not from a retracement. If the lender relies on a sealed 123.4-acre survey, that could be a misrepresentation to a financial institution. The fact that the developer wants a particular acreage makes the request worse, not better.
2. How should you handle the information from the prior survey and the adjoining fence, given confidentiality and the duty to the new client?
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I cannot use the prior client's confidential information for the new client's benefit without consent, but I also cannot ignore a known boundary discrepancy when I undertake a new survey. The proper course is to perform an independent survey of the 120-acre tract, search for the original monuments and record evidence, and locate the fence from field evidence. If the fence is outside the deed line and appears to represent a long-standing occupation line, show it on the survey as a discrepancy and advise the new client that the adjoining owner may claim an interest. Do not disclose the prior client's file or private information; disclose only what is necessary and derived from current field evidence or public records. If the new client wants a survey that ignores the fence, explain that the surveyor must show known evidence and cannot certify a boundary free of it.
3. What should you do about the bonus and the threat, and what Oklahoma professional requirements govern your response?
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Refuse the bonus. A fee contingent on a particular acreage or on a lender's approval creates a conflict of interest and undermines the independence of the survey. The threat to complain to the Board is irrelevant; the Board complaint process is not a reason to sign a false or incompetent survey. Under Oklahoma's land surveyor licensure statute and Board rules, the surveyor must be competent, must be in responsible charge of the work, must not engage in fraud or misrepresentation, and must protect the public. The correct response is to decline the sealing request, explain in writing why the technician's survey is inadequate, offer to perform a proper survey on a normal fee basis, and document the developer's pressure. If the developer files a complaint, the surveyor's records should show that the refusal was based on professional and legal obligations.