OT: Land survey?

[pgmrdan]

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[This message has been edited by pgmrdan (edited 09-02-2004).]

[J Tiers]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by pgmrdan:
Sorry J Tiers. I lived in MO for 39 years and I know of cases where a neighbor used another persons land for 20 years or more. A survey was then performed and fences had to be moved or else land had to be purchased.

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No sorry about it, its true, prgmrdan.

The neighbor who lost the back of the yard would very much like it if your opinion about it were also the one the lawyers had, but it isn't.

I know of two folks who for-real lost land due to that. One in St Louis county, and one south of town near Valles Mines.

I believe your folks either didn't know the law, or were being nice about it. The lawyers seem to think you are wrong.

[Evan]

Dan,

That error is with the intentional signal scrambling turned off. It was turned off in May 2000 and remains off. The accuracy figure means that 95% of positions indicated by a GPS will fall somewhere within a circle of 60 feet diameter. GPS isn't as accurate as people think unless special receivers ($$$$) are used. Even the high end consumer units are no better. GPS is affected by numerous sources of error including geomagnetic storms, multipath, ionospheric inflation, trees, air temperature, barometric pressure and others.

[Wayne02]

I've been having a heck of a time finding two of the four corner stakes on some property we are purchasing. The land is massively overgrown with vegetation, downed trees etc. I went in the first time armed only with a good machete, and came out four hours later a bloody, bruised mess.

Next time I'm going to try using a metal detector I guess.

When I find them I need to mark them with something that is highly visible. I know I can just drive a wooden stake in the ground and tie a florescent streamer to it. But I wonder if there is something that might be more robust then a wooden stake?

Wayne

[docsteve66]

"adverse possession", implies possession with dispute (however mild). The makers of Tabasco sauce (Avery Island La) stop the train once a year to insure the rail road odes not gain possession of the right of way. Mr McElhaney (SPELLING?) gets dressed up in his suit, stands in the middle of the RR track and orders the locomotive to absent itself from the property. The Engineer complies, the whole bunch has a meal together and the train runs again. I think the only place served by the RR is the Tabasco plant.

You can give all the warm fuzzy examples of how families have PEACEFULLY co-existed and they mean nothing. It is when disputes arise and judicial notice is given that precedence is established and becomes binding.

Rhode Island and Lee county Florida (places I am aware of) are addressing the GPS versus survey problems. The GPS gives latitude and longitude coordinates but EMT units need address. The "official" maps are in gross error and the soft ware is useless until the maps are in conformance with GPS. After 10 years, Lee county is only 50 percent revised. Talked to lawyer friend about how it will all come out. His "top of the head" opinion is that GPS is good for directing missiles, but the old reproducible markers will prevail in the courts, when challenged.

Section 588 of Florida code gives a legal description of a fence. It goes on tho say that in cases of felony, trespass etc the ownership of enclosed land is not to be disputed. That means (as I understand it) that if a squatter moves in builds a house and fence the actual owner best not attempt to demolish the fence or house until eviction is done legally. I think Mississippi, Arizona, Texas and other states have have like laws.

All it boils down to is that the BUYER best be sure of what he is buying, the adjacent land owners agree with the property lines (as weird says "amicable agreement") BEFORE laying the money down. My home is built on the land previously used by a large bulb farm for the farm home and out buildings. I know that I might find it hard to re-sell because the land where my workshop is located is so saturated with oil (and maybe other stuff) that a trencher could not dig a foundation line. I shall never "take note" of the problem in view of the EPA rules (made long after I purchased). Some day, some one may have to clean up the leavings- I hope its not myself. Even the most careful buyer can wind up with a useless chunk of land. Good example? Man down the road bought a nice piece of land, a Little low but still nice. He had to haul in many truck loads of fill dirt to get his home above the flood line. Then he was granted a wavier (not in writing though) because he had "destroyed" wet lands. The US gov't Representative said they would never have approved a building permit and could have made him remove his house and "restore the lands" to original condition. The county officials said they were unaware of such power 20 plus years ago. The question is "moot" unless one of the parties decides to make an issue of the matter. We DO NOT own our property and most people are pressing for more rules to restrain us from using our property- be it a car, land, boat or what ever.

It appears subdivisions are less likely to encounter problems of this sort, but they are sure not immune. Locally, a "gated community" was invaded by feral hogs. The hogs could not be shot, trapped etc. The damn hogs,unable to read, write or vote, beat the home owners association and all their rules.

[pgmrdan]

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[This message has been edited by pgmrdan (edited 09-02-2004).]

[Paul Alciatore]

Evan,

The same thing happened to my grandparents. City was widening a street to four lanes with a center island. Had to build over a canal in front of their house. They started surveying up to a few feet from the front steps - said they already owned it. Turns out they were right for every block except that one.

My grandparents got together with everyone else on the block and hired a lawyer. After legal fees, they got more for the front lawn than they paid for the whole house (two story, duplex)(20 or 30 years previous). Free house at that point. Now and then one works out OK.

Paul A.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Evan:
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A few years ago they brought natural gas to our neighbourhood. The guys installing the line surveyed everyone's front property lines since they didn't want to encroach on anyones land. It turns out that the front right corner of my land is in the middle of the road. I notified the highways dept. about this about eight years ago and offered to sell them the sliver that they are encroaching upon. The guy said to get back to them if I didn't hear from them in a couple of years. I'm waiting for my land value to go up a bit more and then will bug them again.</font>

[pgmrdan]

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[This message has been edited by pgmrdan (edited 09-02-2004).]

[docsteve66]

If you have two marks and the survey notes you can find the other two corners (or more) within inches by using a wire from a known location, draw a ten foot or so arc from each known point. The arc intersections should be close to the unknown corner. String works OK for lines but it stretches when 600/700 feet long, length may be off. Even wire stretches a few inches. Chain is better. if trees intervene, just measure over a known distance until you have a 660' clear line of sight. you must be talking 10 acres or so - nice.

[sandman2234]

Interesting...660 feet is what I own, in depth, and only have 2.4 acres. Guess he must have a little more street frontage than I do.
David from jax