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Surveying and Land have lots of myths,
partial truths, misconceptions and beliefs. A few are true, most are not.
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"Legal
Description? I have that on my tax statement." No you
don't. That abbreviated writing is NOT a legal
description. It was written for the convenience of the County
Appraiser as a location and is not copied from your deed ON PURPOSE.
It is not and never was intended to be a legal description. We can not
and will not survey from that so don't be surprised when we don't have much
need for it.
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"The
line is always in the center of road." Except of course,
when it isn't!! Eastern Kansas has many, many rural roads that are not
on the section lines on purpose, let alone those that were not
built right in the first place or have pushed away from hedge rows through
road maintenance. Section lines do not magically drift to
the "correct" position (center of the road) over a period of years,
nor do the roads move themselves to the Section lines!
But then again, neither do property line fences and legal description
boundaries!
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"That old fence
has to be the line between me and my neighbor, it's been there a hundred years!"
This statement refers to the legal doctrine of adverse possession.
Click
here for a basic definition of adverse possession. Time
is only one element of adverse possession (there are four more). The key here is that you are
claiming what is, on paper, owned by another. (that's why it's called
adverse possession) This can only be true if the fence
is wrong in the first place! Granted, fences are often good
evidence of where a line
was originally or thought to be or guessed to be. But be aware: no fence or object can change a
section or quarter section line. They are fixed by law. You may
claim to own by adverse possession land in another section or quarter, but
adverse possession never, never changes a section or quarter line.
Also, in Kansas, only a District Court Judge can make the determination of
adverse possession, so don't ask me to use that there old fence just because
its been there a long time. We
just might tell you that we left our black robes in the other truck. ;)
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"My place had to
have been surveyed, it has been sold several times before I bought it."
Unfortunately for the new buyer, this statement is most likely false.
Kansas was (and somewhat remains) a buyer beware state. Too often
neighbors, realtors or the former owners will tell the buyers where they think the
boundary lines are without any real knowledge other than "this is what I was
told when I bought it" or "this what someone told me once."
Generally speaking, the more expensive the property, the greater the chance that
it was originally surveyed. Also, a product put out for Title Insurance
reasons, the Mortgagee Title Inspection, has added to the confusion over the
years. See our Work Order for an explanation
of what the MTI does and does not do for boundary lines. As a potential buyer, you should
insist that your new property have a boundary survey done, if nothing else for your own piece of
mind.
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"With GPS, can't
your just put some numbers into you machine and come out and show me my land?
Shouldn't take but a minute!" GPS and a 12" ruler have a lot in
common. They are both just tools you can use to measure a distance.
When the framework for boundaries in Kansas was laid out, there was but one
satellite in the sky. The Moon. If none of the
boundary corners are given in Latitude and Longitude (and they are not), then no amount of
technology will pin point a location in of itself. Besides, and
this is the most important point, it's the application of historical practices
and legal principles to your legal description that determine the locations of boundary lines, not the
tools. Owning a hammer doesn't make you a carpenter!
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"I need a survey,
how much will it cost?" One of the problems with estimating
surveying fees is that it is a professional service. Most surveyors
bill based on time. How much time is needed to survey is NOT
necessarily dependant on the size of the tract or lot. As legal
descriptions are unique, so are most surveying situations and the time
needed to survey that particular tract. Expect a surveyor to ask a lot
of questions about what, where and why. Don't be surprised if you
can't get an answer immediately. It would be a little like
calling up an auto mechanic and saying "My car doesn't run, how much to get
it fixed?" and then expecting an exact answer.
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