Editor’s note: This is a reprint from a letter to the “Free Speech” section of the Lahontan Chapter of the Nevada Association of Land Surveyors newsletter “The Closing Corner”. We want to thank the newsletter’s editor, Carl C. de Baca PLS for permitting us to republish.

I get it—every surveyor has been there.

It’s mid-June. Work is booming. The kids are out for summer break, weekends are filling up, and life is moving a hundred miles an hour. Field crews are booked for weeks, proposals are stacking up on your desk, and that Record of Survey can wait until winter… after all, we’ve got 90 days to file it. Taking on another client right now seems impossible.

But what about your existing clients? More specifically, what about the client from back in December or January when work was slow and you welcomed that small residential survey to help keep a field crew busy for a day or two? Do you still have an obligation to them or is that job done because they’re paid in full?

A few days ago, I received an email through our general mailbox and the subject line simply stating “Please help.” Within the email the homeowner explained they had attempted to contact several local surveyors, and no one had responded.

Their email caught my attention so I replied with my standard, “What’s your APN and how can I help?” They responded immediately.

Within a few minutes, I had their property pulled up on the county GIS. It was a one-acre, plated parcel in south Reno. Right away I noticed one of the fence lines didn’t align with the property line, and one of the corners was a section corner already identified on the GIS. Boundary was a slam dunk. So, I pulled the parcel map and immediately found an equestrian easement running along the property line.

I called the telephone number listed in their inquiry and introduced myself. The homeowner explained that they had recently moved from California and had hired a surveyor about six months earlier to locate the property corners shortly before purchasing the home. The surveyor came out, measured the property, and marked each corner with fresh lath and bright fluorescent flagging. Then packed up and left.

Upon later inspection of the survey from the homeowners, they noticed the fence line didn’t match the newly marked property corners but didn’t think much of it. They figured they would simply relocate the fence in the summer.

Well, summertime arrived and they moved their fence, but not without the neighborhood drama. A few “Karen” complaints later and one attorney letter demanding they stop construction—they were baffled why the neighbors were pissed and their realtor didn’t see why they couldn’t move their fence. After all they had a survey performed…

After listening to their situation for just a couple of minutes, I explained that their property was encumbered by an easement and that it was almost certain why the fence had been constructed in its original location. This brand new information was blowing their mind, so I sent them a screenshot of the parcel map with the easement highlighted so they could clearly visualize what we had discussed. That was it. 15 minutes of my time – 30 if you include the research before I made the phone call.

They thanked me repeatedly for simply returning their email and taking the time to explain what was happening. They even offered to pay me for the thirty minutes I had spent helping them. I declined.

But that one simple email, “Please help” left a lasting impression on me. It stayed with me long after the phone call ended and ultimately inspired me to write this paper.

Why was I the only surveyor who called them back?

And why hadn’t the original surveyor taken a few extra minutes to explain the easement when they performed the survey six months earlier?

Those questions have been on my mind ever since.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and remember, “Don’t be the reason someone has to call the second surveyor!”

Sincerely,

Sid E. Shot, P.L.S.