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Survey Exception
Practical Law Glossary Item 0-509-4588 (Approx. 2 pages)
Glossary
Survey Exception
An exception in the title insurance policy that may either be:
- A general survey exception. This is an exception that the title insurance company includes in a policy if there is no satisfactory survey of the real property described in the policy. The general survey exception excepts from the policy any state of facts that an accurate survey and inspection of the land would show.
- An exception with a detailed survey reading. This is an exception that the title insurance company includes if there is a current and satisfactory survey of the property described in the policy. The title insurance company reviews the survey and lists any specific encroachments or other problematic survey matters as exceptions to the policy.
To avoid any unknown risks that a general survey exception carves out of a title insurance policy, a land survey is usually prepared or updated when purchasing title insurance. If the owner's or lender's policy must be issued without a general survey exception, generally a title insurance company must be furnished with an ALTA/NSPS land title survey that shows all existing improvements and is no more than six months old. An older survey may be updated by a surveyor if the title insurance company requires a current survey.