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Saturday, June 3rd, 2023
I am in need of advice. I had a land survey completed a few days ago. The results were founded in my favor. The neighbor was not happy so he decided to remove the pins that were put in place by the surveyor.
I am aware of Mississippi code pertaining to boundaries and markings that state if a person markers are moved a person can be convicted and fined by the state. Is there anything in addition that I need pertaining to this matter.
The picture with the pink markings were taken after the survey was complete and paid for. The picture without the pink marking was taken after the neighbor removed the survey markings and stated that the survey was invalid.
Thanks for assistance in this matter.
Unfortunately, you'll never prove that it was him who did it. At least you know where your corner is supposed to be.
Inform your surveyor that the monument he found has been removed. He may be able to explain to the neighbor the validity of the found monument and how it is consistent with the subdivision plat.
If that fails, and the neighbor isn't being neighborly, take the survey to your attorney and explain the situation to him/her. A letter notifying the neighbor of the intent to take legal action if he continues to destroy the boundary monument(s) might dissuade him from pulling the next one set by your surveyor.
Being a Mississippi surveyor, I am interested in knowing where this is happening. Please give us your location.
As others have said above, the fact that the point is now gone, doesn't prove that your neighbor did it.
You probably should hire the surveyor to set the point again, something deep and more permanent, harder to pull, and also install a camera
If you have him on video pulling the corner again that would give you the evidence you'd need to take him to small claims to have him held liable for the cost. He probably won't pay but then you would have a judgement that you could use to put a lien on his property. If he's a total loser though, likely be a while before you collect anything. One fellow I know who had a problem similar installed a steel bollard filled with and set in concrete for his corner. nothing short of a D6 is going to budge that thing.
There are several things to consider:
There is (was) a wire flag nearer to his fence corner than the flagging stretched out of the ground that may mark your corner. That wire flag may mark an additional corner that may or may not also be your corner.
You and your neighbor could have different boundary corners and could both be right or both be wrong.
Are you sure that the flagging coming up out of the ground is tied to your boundary corner location? That is a method of boundary corner marking that I am unfamiliar with. Typically a tall wood stake, wire flag or both is what I am used to doing and seeing, but regional differences could include just a piece of flagging.
Your neighbor could have pulled 'just the flagging' off (since the top was tied to what appears to be his fence) and the actual metal marker is still in the ground below the surface.
Yes, agreed, the best advice is to call your surveyor and ask them to help you understand where you boundary is located.
That's a common method in New England, but normally for less urban locations. Flagging tied at one end to the monument, stretched out and tied to a tree branch, so it can be found in 3 feet of snow
That said, I just set a rebar this morning near a fence, set a tall stake next to it, and also tied some flagging to the nearby fence
I had a neighbor pull a pin I set. What worked for my client was to send a bill to the alleged culprits husband. Never saw any payment but the pin was never messed with again.
@oldpacer the tied flagging going vertical is a regional thing I practice in NJ and we don't do that, we do what you do. In some FB groups that I'm in, it is a popular practice, particularly in FLA.
Did he tell you why the survey was "invalid"?
I'm in South FL and nobody I know makes a habit of tying flagging between irons and other stuff. Seen it sometimes to make irons easier to find when the lathe is gone like if the cows are wiping them out. Or, if there's other junk in the ground nearby like old signs or grounding rods to help the next guy differentiate between what they're beeping/digging up...
Personally, I wouldn't make a big deal about it. Depending on what's at stake perhaps you have to do something, but I wouldn't wanna have a potentially ongoing dispute with a goofy neighbor. Calling the surveyor and asking if they can reset the points since the survey was recently done might not cost too much. At that point the camera idea and proving somebody has disturbed those points would give you some leverage going forward.
Like the guys said above, there's lots of possibilities so I wouldn't jump to conclusions or begin anything adversarial unnecessarily.
In the woods sometimes we tie flagging to the pipe and up to a tree branch to make the location more visible especially when setting up control. Not in residential neighborhoods though.
