NSPS Radio Hour — TODAY, March 24, 11 a.m. EDT

Jack Owens, Chair of the joint Indiana-Michigan Boundary Line Commission will join host Curt Sumner to discuss a project to resurvey and remonument the state line between the two states. Until recently, this project was being pursued by a group of volunteer surveyors. In December 2013 the Governor of Indiana appointed five (5) members to an official joint Boundary Line Commission, and in February 2014, the Governor of Michigan officially appointed five (5) commission members, initiating the implementation of what heretofore had been a dream of the surveyors in both states.

If you are unable to listen to the show when it is being broadcasted, listen to the archive of the show at http://www.radiosandysprings.com/showpages/ACSM.php. Archives for each show are typically available for listening within a few days after the show airs.

During the show, listen for the "key question" and be the first to email the correct answer to quikstakescontest@americaswebradio.com to win a $50 gift certificate from our sponsor, Parker Davis Quik Stakes. No purchase is required to receive the gift certificate. Winners limited to once every three months.

NSPS Attends Coastal Zone Briefing on Capitol Hill

NSPS government affairs consultant John "JB" Byrd attended a March 5 Congressional briefing by the Coastal States Organization on "Coastal Zone Management: Protecting Coastal Communities and Economies in Your District."

Keynote remarks were provided by Representative Sam Farr (D-CA), Chair of the House Oceans Caucus and member of the House Appropriations Committee. Rep. Farr emphasized the importance for stakeholders concerned with coastal resilience to make a business case as to the economic impact conservation and other protective efforts can have in generating tax revenue, especially from a tourism value.

NSPS previously briefed the Congressman's staff on the society’s support for Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform (FLAIR/H.R. 916) Act and the Digital Coast Act (H.R. 1382).  Following the Congressman's remarks, the briefing emphasized scientists and local officials who are working in coastal state programs to build resilient coastlines that better protect homes, businesses, and livelihoods. They highlighted examples of federal and state/local partnerships through the coastal zone programs and how they help build and maintain coastal resiliency.

The Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) allows states to manage finite resources, preserve coastal communities and ecosystems, harmonize economies and ecosystems, and maximize coastal partnership opportunities-- all of which create opportunities for professional surveyors and a demand for surveying and mapping data.

Surveyors, We Salute You!

Click here to read the AllenPrecision interview with Curt Sumner.

In honor of National Surveyors Week, Allen Precision Equipment is offering customers a special 10% discount on all online purchases through the entire month of March, with an additional 5% discount for NSPS members.  Email TrishMilburn for your NSPS discount code.

National Public Radio Highlights Surveyors Role in Mapping Detroit's Blighted Properties

National Public Radio (NPR) recently highlighted the role professional surveyors have in mapping Detroit's 380,000 parcels of land stretched across 139 square miles.

Last fall, White House officials created a Blight Task Force in Detroit to determine just what property is salvageable among the estimated 80,000 abandoned buildings.

That information is now pouring into a long room, referred to as "Mission Control", with dozens of people poised over laptops — a White House Situation Room-style mapping area with computerized images of all of the buildings in the city, and outlines of what should be done with them. A map of Detroit covers one table. It's replicated on the laptop screens and overlaid by a computer grid of the city. Blue dots represent surveyors out in the field, and they're all over the city right now. Detroit officials spent decades trying to tear down such homes, but each demolition costs between $5,000 and $10,000. 

The mapping project's manager, Sean Jackson, says the new database will help them better use the scarce funding by compiling information that the city and county departments' outdated computers could never integrate.

Detroit's mayor Mike Duggan needs the information from the mapping database to improve Detroit beyond its thriving downtown and midtown areas.

ALTA/ACSM Standards

Please send questions/comments you may have about the standards to NSPS Executive Director Curt Sumner via email at curtis.sumner@nsps.us.com.  Responses will be posted in NSPS News and Views.

Question:

I have a general question regarding the preparation of ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys that always concerned me. What is considered a “current” title binder? All of my contracts state that the client will provide me with a current title binder with the supportive referenced documents, prior to the completion and issuance of the survey. Even though I engage in doing my own research for the project as well, I will not issue the final survey until I can review the title binder being prepared for the closing.

In the past, some clients will send me what I consider to be an out of date binder (more than 6 months since it was issued), to which I will always request an update to, or a letter from the title company, stating that the binder is still in force and that there have been no updates or additions to it since its last issuance. Some clients have sent me 6, 8, or 10 year old title binders and insisted that this is what is to be used for the preparation of the current ALTA/ACSM Land Title survey.

Of course I object and then the question always comes up as to “what is considered a current title binder?”  Is there some language that ALTA/ACSM has that defines that? If so, can you please share some?

Answer:

The standards do not address what is “current” and do not need to because they refer to the “most current,” not “current.”

I personally suggest that surveyors should take what the client provides as “most current” (which is what the standards call for, not “current”) regardless of how old it is.  I do not think it is up to surveyors to tell clients that they have to get new title work, although if the title work is “old” (whatever that means to the individual surveyor), the surveyor should advise the client that there may be burdens on the property that (1) might not be reported in old title work; (2) could adversely affect use of the property; and (3) will not be reflected by their survey.

The surveyor isn’t responsible to be concerned about whether the binder is still in force, it is not their issue. Pursuant to the ALTA/ACSM Standards, the survey needs to reflect the name of the title company, commitment (binder) number, and the date of the commitment; this protects the surveyor from burdens/easements that may affect the property that were not reported in the title work provided. I think the date of the title work and whether or not it is still in force is a title insurance issue between the lender, the client, and the title company.

Lastly, other than in some New England states where surveyors are required to do their own easement research, I personally don’t think surveyors should undertake easement research themselves.   It seems to me that they may be taking on liability that does not belong to them.  If title work is old, I think surveyors would be well-advised to limit their comments to advising the client that they should consider getting an up-to-date commitment.

As an aside, I do find it funny when a client provides old title work and says that they will not be ordering any new title work.  I always laugh to myself and think “At least not until the lender insists on it!"