What is an ALTA Survey?
An ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey (commonly known as an “ALTA Survey”) is a comprehensive boundary, location and title survey presented in one document. It is most often required when a financial institution (lender or insurer) takes on some risk regarding the property, most often by issuing a mortgage or an insurance policy on the property itself or on a building that is to be constructed on it. It is must be performed by, or under the direct supervision of, a state-licensed Professional Surveyor.
An ALTA Survey will determine and depict property location, boundaries, access to public rights of way, buildings and other improvements, easements and encroachments that may exist, and other important features. These enable the financial institution to get a standardized, accurate picture of the property and assess any significant risks that may be present. For example, the survey determines whether a fence built on the property is within the property lines or not, or how the easements (right to use another’s property without possessing it) and encroachments (use of property that extends beyond the property lines) affect the property, among other important usage and ownership details. These circumstances may put full ownership of the property in question and limit its uses. An ALTA survey establishes these facts pictorially and lays out explicitly the resulting land use restrictions.
All ALTA surveys must adhere to a set of standards put forth by two accredited bodies in the land surveying industry, unless otherwise directed by the state or municipality in which the property being surveyed is located. These standards were originally developed in 1962 jointly by ALTA, the American Land Title Association, and ACSM, the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. The standards are updated periodically, with the most recent version issued in 2011 and called “Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys”. These standards were developed to protect the buyer in a real estate transaction to ensure the buyer is actually getting what he/she thinks he/she is paying for. In addition to the minimum requirements laid out in the standards document, the survey may include optional items as requested by the client, as shown in Table A: Optional Survey Responsibilities and Specifications .
ALTA Surveys are performed almost exclusively for industrial, commercial or multi-unit residential developments. In order to perform a survey, a current title commitment is needed. The title commitment defines the legal description of the property and any encumbrances (exceptions). The survey will verify or revise parts of the existing legal description, although the surveyor cannot determine what will or will not be covered by title insurance based on the survey’s findings. The survey graphically depicts all onsite easements and exceptions cited within the title commitment for insurance of the secured party. If requested, any off site easements that benefit the subject property may also be shown on the survey. It may also indicate zoning restrictions and the flood zone of the property.
According to ALTA/ACSM Standards, every completed survey must be certified as follows:
The plat or map of an ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey shall bear only the following certification, unaltered, except as may be required pursuant to Section 3.B. [of ALTA Standards]:
To (name of insured, if known), (name of lender, if known), (name of insurer, if known), (names of others as negotiated with the client):
This is to certify that this map or plat and the survey on which it is based were made in accordance with the 2011 Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys, jointly established and adopted by ALTA and NSPS, and includes Items of Table A thereof. The field work was completed on ____.
Date of Plat or Map:
(Surveyor’s signature, printed name and seal with Registration/License Number)
If the survey bears a certification that differs from this then it will not be considered a valid ALTA Survey.