Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
As has already been noted, a disadvantage of title registration is the expense
and time required to complete the initial registration. The registration process
begins when a petition is filed by the property owner. The petition is much like
an action to quiet title which might be filed in any court of competent jurisdiction.
The government must examine the title of the property presented for registration,
give notice to abutters and other interested parties and schedule a hearing or trial,
as necessary, in order to quiet any claims against the property. The procedure can
take from 6 months to several years before a certificate of title can be issued. Costs
are dependent on whether or not there are title problems and whether there are
boundary lines or other issues that are contested. A contested registration can cost
thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.
One advantage of the title registration system is that, at least in some jurisdic-
tions, adverse possession and prescription does not run against registered land.
In states such as Massachusetts where the metes and bounds description of the
land is established by the Land Court, surveyors must be mindful when sur-
veying land abutting registered land that the boundaries cannot be altered. The
property lines established by the Land Court are fixed and not subject to reloca-
tion by the surveyor when interpretation of the evidence would suggest another
location.
9.12 Getting Oriented
When beginning research it is often helpful to have an overall picture of the area to
be surveyed. Some old deed descriptions can be difficult to locate or to interpret,
particularly if they contain errors, so having an overall plan of the area can save
time. If the survey is of a lot in a relatively recent subdivision, and the lot does not
happen to be on a subdivision boundary, then the subdivision plan itself may pro-
vide all the information which the surveyor needs. In most other cases an overall
plan of the area is often helpful.
There are a number of potential sources for such plans. One source may be the
city, town or county Assessors or clerk's office. Because Assessors need some way
of keeping track of who owns what, most Assessors offices have plans showing the
division of ownership in their jurisdiction. The quality of these plans varies from
one office to another. Because new subdivisions are created frequently, the plans
have to be continuously updated. If the Assessors are understaffed or do not have
the budget to maintain the plans, they may be out of date. A word of caution is in
order here. All surveyors know or should know that Assessors plans are prepared
for assessment purposes only. Because they do not generally result from an actual
field survey they should not be relied upon for describing legal boundaries. Unless
an Assessors plan is specifically called for in the deed, it should not be used as a
basis for a legal description.
Sometimes aerial photographs are available for the area in question (Fig.
9.3
).
Some Assessors offices use large aerial photos as a background and draw parcels
