ALTA Survey Red Flags Checklist

Working on ALTA Survey Red Flags Checklist? The so what is simple: if the file cannot show authority, version, evidence, threshold, deadline and owner, the final legal or commercial decision is harder to trust. Upload the relevant files to Caira and turn them into a reviewable checklist.
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Start with the decision the file needs to support. Then build the evidence index before conclusions harden. Separate missing information, business decisions, legal assumptions and filing mechanics. Keep dates, document versions and named owners visible from the start.

Official Data Points To Anchor The File

Use these source-backed checks to make the page practical rather than generic.

• An ALTA/NSPS survey should be reconciled against title exceptions, legal description, easements, access and improvements.

• Survey Table A items are optional and should be checked against the lender, buyer and title company's instructions.

• Encroachments, gaps, gores, access issues and utility easements should be logged with title-exception references.

So What

ALTA Survey Red Flags Checklist matters because the risk is usually not one missing paragraph. It is traceability. You need to turn survey review into a title and closing issue list instead of a visual skim, while keeping source authority, operative documents, approval mechanics, evidence ownership and unresolved assumptions separate.

The goal is not to replace a source document with a summary. The goal is to make the record easier to inspect: what was requested, what rule or contract term controls it, what was approved, what evidence supports it, what is missing, what has been escalated and what still needs a responsible decision.

Two Situations Where This Comes Up

Scenario 1. A buyer is closing on a $11.6 million property and the lender flags title, survey or lease issues late in diligence. The buyer wants price certainty. The seller wants to close without reopening business terms.

Scenario 2. The title company asks for releases, estoppels or corrected recording documents before issuing the policy. Everyone says the issue is routine until the survey, deed or tenant response contradicts the closing checklist.

Common Issues This Solves

This issue usually shows up in practical ways. Survey issues need to be compared against the title commitment, not reviewed visually alone. Easements, access, utilities and encroachments need document references.

It also creates review friction later. Updated surveys need comparison against final title materials. Physical site issues should become closing conditions or document requests.

Documents To Collect

• survey, title commitment and exception documents

• legal description and parcel records

• easements, covenants and recorded plats

• access and utility evidence

• zoning or site-plan materials if available

• closing issue log

Authorities And Records To Check

Start with the authority or record that controls the issue, then check the actual document set in front of you. Where state, agency, court or county rules differ, keep the jurisdiction-specific authority and the reviewed document together.

For this page, the authority check should stay tied to the actual file. County recorder sources support the recorded-document evidence behind survey exceptions. The file should compare the survey to the title commitment and recorded instruments. Visual issues should be translated into document requests, release requests or closing conditions.

Review Points For The File

Use this as a compact review table. It keeps the legal source, the working document and the final disposition in the same line of sight.

How To Use This Checklist

Work from one index before any memo, filing, notice or redline is finalized. Create a column for source authority and a separate column for the actual file or exhibit that supports the point. Mark each gap as factual, legal, commercial, filing, notice, approval or evidence-quality so the next reviewer knows what kind of problem it is.

Keep a short decision log for items closed by business judgment, risk acceptance, revised drafting or further review. Flag stale materials explicitly before reuse. That gives the next reviewer a clean path from source material to decision.

Questions To Ask Caira

After upload, ask Caira narrow questions that force the file into a table, timeline or checklist. That makes gaps visible before they become late-stage drafting or filing problems.

• Does the legal description match the title file

• are easements shown and tied to recorded documents

• is access clear

• do encroachments or improvements conflict with title exceptions

• what must be resolved before closing

Red Flags To Separate

• survey and title use different legal descriptions

• easements shown without recording references

• access assumed from a driveway but not documented

• encroachments ignored

• updated survey not compared to the final commitment

Practical Output

A good finished file should be small enough to review quickly and detailed enough to reconstruct later. Keep source documents, working notes and final outputs separated so the trail stays clean. In practice, that usually means producing survey-to-title comparison table, easement document index, access and utility issue list, encroachment tracker and closing resolution checklist.

Sources And Authorities To Check

Use these as starting points for jurisdiction-specific review, not as a complete legal opinion.

• ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey Standards.

• Title commitment exception schedule and recorded easement documents.

• Local zoning and subdivision ordinances.

• Survey Table A requirements selected by buyer, lender or title company.