Survey Issues That Delay Commercial Closings

Conor Meyers — Co-Founder & Business AttorneyHas built and run businesses; advises owners on contracts, transactions, and risk. About Conor →

The title report tells you what rights exist. Only the survey tells you where they are.

Title review and survey answer different halves of the same question. A recorded easement described as running along the eastern boundary means nothing until someone establishes where the eastern boundary is and what sits on it. ALTA survey requirements exist because commercial transactions need that second half in a standardized, reliable form.

We handle these matters for growth-stage companies in Idaho and California. This is general information — not legal or tax advice on a specific situation.

Half the diligence is in the record. The other half is on the ground.

What a commercial survey shows

An ALTA NSPS survey is the standard for commercial transactions. It shows boundaries against the legal description, the location of improvements, recorded easements plotted on the ground, encroachments in either direction, access to public rights of way, and flood zone designation.

Optional table items add detail — zoning setbacks, parking counts, utility locations, wetlands. Which to order depends on the property and the intended use, and the list should be settled with counsel and the lender rather than left to the surveyor’s default.

Order the optional items your use actually depends on.

Reading an ALTA NSPS survey

Reading an ALTA NSPS survey starts with the surveyor’s certification, which states the standards followed and who may rely on it. Reliance matters: a survey certified only to the seller may not be relied on by the buyer or its lender.

Then work through the plotted exceptions. Each recorded easement should be shown with a reference to its recording information, and any exception the surveyor could not plot should be noted. Unplottable exceptions deserve attention, since they are often the vaguely described ones.

The exceptions the surveyor could not plot are the vague ones.

Encroachments

Encroachment found before closing is the most common survey issue: a neighbor’s fence, driveway, or building corner over the line, or the subject property’s improvements over onto adjoining land.

Resolution options include a boundary line agreement, an easement legitimizing the condition, removal, or affirmative title insurance coverage over the specific encroachment. Which is appropriate depends on materiality — a fence six inches over is not a wall six feet over.

A fence over the line is not a building over the line.

Boundary disputes

A boundary line dispute commercial property can arise where deed descriptions conflict, where monuments have been lost, or where long occupation has established a line different from the record.

Doctrines including adverse possession, acquiescence, and boundary by agreement can move a legal boundary away from the recorded description. A survey identifying occupation inconsistent with the record is a signal to investigate before closing, not a technicality to note and pass over.

Long occupation can move a boundary the deed never moved.

Survey exceptions and title insurance

Survey exception title insurance is the standard exclusion for matters an accurate survey would disclose. Providing a current survey acceptable to the title company usually allows that general exception to be deleted, replaced by specific exceptions for identified conditions.

That trade is what makes the survey worth its cost. Without it the policy excludes an entire category of risk; with it, the buyer knows precisely which conditions remain uninsured.

The survey converts a blanket exclusion into a known list.

Timing and lender requirements

Commission the survey at the start of diligence. Fieldwork, drafting, and revisions take weeks, and any issue found needs time to resolve within the objection and cure periods the purchase agreement provides.

Lenders have their own requirements — specific certification language, particular optional items, and certification naming the lender. Confirm those early rather than reordering later. Recorded interests follow Title 55, lender practice reflects FDIC guidance, and where contamination is a factor EPA standards apply alongside.

Confirm the lender’s survey requirements before you order it.

A simple plan to get a legal partner in your corner

Owners who bring in commercial lease review attorney early almost always pay less than those who call one afterward.

The engagement at a glance

A three-step path from first call to ongoing protection.

Frequently asked questions