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S t r i p p e r :  C o n f e s s i o n s  o f  a  L a n d  S u r v e y o r
B y  P e a n  C h e n e y i n g  P L S

(Originally published in Gulf Coast Surveyor, September 2011 under the column "Chain!")

PART 3

STRIP SEARCH

Jack called us wanting a Standard Land Survey on 2 parcels that had been cut out of a large lot in an old recorded subdivision. He would only say that he needed the survey for a possible transaction on the properties in the future and that there was no Title Insurance Company involved. Jack told us he had heard about us from a lawyer he knew. He signed the proposal and we proceeded to begin work on his project. Jack warned us not to speak to the people occupying the southerly parcel of the 2 subject parcels.

The initial field trip did not turn up anything significant other than the southerly subject parcel was being accessed via a paved road over a portion of the northerly subject parcel. The boundaries of the parcels seemed certain and a partial chain of title was then assembled on the original lot the 2 subject parcels where out of. The original lot now consisted of a total of 3 parcels of with the subject parcels were 2. We were surveying the southerly and northerly parcels only with the 3rd parcel comprising the rest of the original lot adjoining them to the west. Current tax records and the current and old tax mosaics were pulled. We hoped to find some mention of the apparent access easement crossing the northerly subject tract to reach the southerly subject tract.

A very interesting history of the original lot began to emerge from the evidence and records. The original lot had been acquired by one individual in the 1950s who then conveyed 2 parcels out of it to relatives. He retained 1 parcel in the southerly portion of the lot that was land locked by the other conveyances. Later he built a warehouse on the southerly retained parcel and constructed a paved road across the north parcel he had conveyed to a relative to reach the existing road. Multitudes of transactions had occurred since on all 3 parcels but all of these transactions were apparently between the same relatives with the exception of the west 3rd parcel which was conveyed in 2004 to a party outside the family by a family Trust. The southerly retained parcel had but one extremely poor description from a conveyance to a family member who was part of the Trust in 1976 which indicated it was junior or the final remainder. It could not be located on the ground from the description unless it was read in light of the previous conveyances out of the original lot.

In 1978 the original owner of the entire lot passed away and the 2 subject parcels were made part of a family Trust along with the western 3rd parcel that formed the owner’s estate of the entire lot. The same relatives that had been involved in the various transactions on the 2 subject parcels were listed as beneficiaries of the Trust.

Apparently the tax maps and tax reports on the 3 parcels comprising the original lot had become scrambled over the years. It appeared that the owner (who was not a relative of the original lot owner) that had acquired the west 3rd parcel in 2004 out of the lot from the family Trust was paying taxes on the southerly subject parcel. Conversely the owner of the southerly subject parcel (which was the family Trust) was paying taxes on the west 3rd parcel. Jack was paying taxes on the northerly subject parcel that had been conveyed to him in 2009 by the family Trust.

The Standard Land Survey was prepared along with a Surveyor’s report explaining the problems with the missing access easement and the taxing problems. A meeting was then set up with Jack.

After Jack was told about the various problems he confessed that he had purchased both the northerly and southerly tracts of land in 2009. I explained to Jack that his vesting Deed did not indicate this and was only for the northerly parcel. Jack stated that the Deed was wrong and should have included the southerly parcel. He said that he had purchased both parcels without a Land Survey and that he had been told by the Realtor and the seller that both parcels were part of the sale. He had obtained keys after the closing for both properties and he thought nothing more about it until he tried to convey the southerly parcel to a third party a few months earlier.

The third party was suing Jack for fraud because they discovered he did not have title to the southerly subject parcel. The third party turned out to be the people who were currently occupying the southerly subject parcel. They had made a deal with the owner (family Trust) of the southerly tract, before Jack obtained it, to pay the taxes on the southerly parcel as part of their rent they paid on it. The third party was actually paying taxes on the westerly parcel of land out of the lot. The tax bills arrived at the southerly parcel’s address for the westerly parcel which they dutifully paid for more than 20 years not realizing that it was a tax bill for the west parcel.

When Jack had obtained the property the third party signed an agreement with him stating that the previous arrangement would continue with the rent and tax bills and that is why Jack had never thought about his tax bill that was only for the northerly parcel. It was only after the third party had approached Jack to purchase the southerly parcel they were renting that this mess finally blew up.

I told Jack he should have told me this before he hired me and I advised him on how to correct this problem for little or no money. Jack thanked me but said  that he was taking the results of the Land Survey to his lawyers so they could tell him what to do next. Jack said his lawyers would handle it and he was sure they would be contacting me soon. He also stated that they were in the process of suing the Title Insurance Company, the Realtor and the seller. As he got in his car to leave Jack said he would never buy another piece of property again without having it surveyed first.

I have heard nothing since my meeting with Jack last week. I doubt I will ever hear from Jack or his representatives again regarding this property.

(Come Ahead!)

This concludes the 3 part article.