What does it mean to have an ALTA/NSPS Survey?

If you wonder if an ALTA/NSPS survey is essential before purchasing property, the answer is yes, and below are the reasons why you need to get one.

ALTA is an acronym for the American Land Title Association, and NSPS stands for the National Society of Professional Surveyors. This type of survey is the industry standard in land title surveys. In 1962 the two organizations joined forces to design a survey product that standardized the land survey report, opinion and certify relevant issues about every property to the title insurer. The Minimum Standard Details Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys outline the surveyor’s responsibilities. The requirements have been revised about ten times since their inception to the current requirements that took effect in 2021.

What is the ALTA survey?

This specific survey documents the boundaries of a property, making note of any easements or public right-of-way or any other addition or deletion from the property throughout the parcel’s history. Clearly, defining the land boundaries prevents disputes over where one parcel ends and another begins. An ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey is the foundational component of all real estate sales. It is necessary to obtain comprehensive Title Insurance for the property as the buyer, seller, or owner.

The Role of Title Insurance

Title insurance protects the owner, and the lender, against disputes or claims to any part of the property, including financial compensation owed to another party in association with the property. It protects the property owner from lawsuits that claim fraud, permission of use, money owed, and other disputes in the property history. For example, you purchased a property that was part of an estate. The deceased owner permitted his neighbor on the east to build a fence one foot inside the boundary along the property. The neighbor never paid the contractor for the fence, and the contractor placed a lien on the property.

Title Insurance protects the new property owner against the financial liability attached to the property before the sale.

The Parts of the ALTA/NSPS Survey

• Records Review
  Review of official county survey records and ownership.
• Survey Monuments Setting and/or Review
  A “survey monument” is a permanent marker set by a land surveyor to mark or reference a point on a property or landline permanently marked or tagged with the land surveyor’s certificate number.
• Maps
  Updated land mapping, including landscape features, buildings, elevations, topical additions and removals, and sometimes utility lines and structures.

The ALTA/NSPS survey presents a complete history of the land and an up-to-date picture of the properties current boundaries.