This could have been avoided if Tennessee land surveyors didn’t have the the self defeating idea that surveys shouldn’t be recorded
To be clear, I am only talking about retracement surveys and not subdivisions.
Mandatory recording provides the impetus for future exploitation. The two issues are separate only in that one agencies enacts the recording requirement. Planners and reviewers have have more political power than surveyors, so it’s best not to tempt them in the first place.
My main objection stems from my interpretation of the reasoning behind the fourth and fifth amendments and a deep appreciation for the right to privacy. I find it immoral to force a person to record an instrument that may cause them harm. I’ve heard the argument that a PLS in a recording state can wink and nod and simply hold onto the survey to give their client more time to deal with a given boundary issue. I view this as tacit acknowledgment of the perverse nature of denying a US Citizen the right to be secure in their persons, by which I mean the knowledge of their boundary location and any consequence thereof.
Most would still agree that it’s better to let 10 criminals walk rather than send a single an innocent man to prison. I extend this line of thinking to someone trying to do the right thing by hiring a surveyor then having to share the unfavorable results with their well monied neighbor. Making someone pay for a professional opinion, then requiring them to share it, without compensation and no matter what the results, runs against the spirit of Bill of Rights. It also diminishes the trust that can be placed in the PLS.
I won’t argue against mandatory recording being a net benefit to the majority, in terms of time and money. I just use different weights on my scale of justice.
This content was originally published here.
