ALTA Survey: Recorded Sewer Easement, an Unrecorded Relocation, and Client Pressure
A 12.4-acre commercial parcel is being surveyed to ALTA/NSPS standards. Table A includes items for monuments, addresses, flood zone, gross land area, zoning, utilities, and easements. The title commitment lists a recorded 20-ft-wide sanitary sewer easement along the rear 20 ft of the parcel. The field crew finds no manholes or markers in that strip, and the client's engineer says the sewer was relocated in 2009 by a private agreement that was never recorded. The client asks you to leave the easement off the plat and to show the existing 6-ft chain-link fence as the west boundary. The fence is 0.8 ft west of the record line, and a shed on the parcel extends 1.7 ft into the recorded sewer strip. The neighbor has not objected. The title company says it will go along with whatever the surveyor shows.
1. How should you respond to the client's request to omit the easement and to treat the fence as the boundary?
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I would explain that the recorded easement must be shown because it is a matter of record affecting the title, and the selected Table A items require the survey to depict easements and utilities. The client's engineer's statement about a 2009 relocation is not a recorded release. Even if the pipe was moved, the recorded easement remains an encumbrance until a release or amendment is recorded. Omitting it would make the plat misleading to the client, the title company, and any lender or purchaser who relies on it.
The fence is an observed improvement, not a record boundary. The 0.8-ft offset is a discrepancy to be shown, not a line to be adopted. I would show the fence as an encroachment or possession line and show the record west line. The shed's 1.7-ft intrusion into the recorded sewer strip is also an encroachment that must be depicted. If the client wants the fence treated as the boundary, the proper path is a boundary agreement, adverse possession judgment, or deed correction, none of which a surveyor can create by drafting.
2. What should appear on the plat regarding the sewer easement and the encroachments, and what notes would you add?
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The plat should show the recorded 20-ft sewer easement by its recorded width, bearings, and ties to the parcel lines, with a label identifying it as a recorded easement. The shed should be shown in its measured location, with a dimension or note stating that it extends approximately 1.7 ft into the recorded easement. The chain-link fence should be shown as an observed fence approximately 0.8 ft west of the record west line, with a note that it is not a record boundary.
I would add a note stating that no physical evidence of the sewer was observed within the recorded easement and that the utility depiction is based on record information. I would also note the engineer's claim of an unrecorded 2009 relocation, but I would not present it as fact. The gross land area should be reported consistently, with a note whether the easement area is included. If Table A item 11 is selected, utility information must be obtained from the appropriate utility sources and shown as required; a statement from the client's engineer is not a substitute for the utility company's record.
3. The title company asks you to delete the easement note so the deal can close. How do you handle that request?
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I would not delete a note that is necessary to prevent the plat from being misleading. The ALTA/NSPS plat is the surveyor's certification, and the surveyor is responsible for its content even when a title company or client pressures for a cleaner depiction. Deleting the recorded easement would create a false impression that the parcel is unencumbered in that strip.
I would offer alternatives: show the easement and add a clear note that no physical evidence was observed; show the recorded easement and the claimed unrecorded relocation as separate notes; or, if a release or amendment is recorded before the plat is sealed, revise the depiction to reflect the current record. If the title company has a legal opinion that the easement was extinguished, I would ask for it in writing and still describe the record document and the basis for the change. The surveyor can report facts and discrepancies but cannot certify title or extinguish an easement by omitting it.