Why do lenders require an ALTA survey?

Lenders require ALTA surveys to protect their investment from adverse claims that a title search may not disclose. An ALTA survey is a boundary survey that complies with American Land Title Association standards, and the information in it helps the lender and the buyer evaluate risks attached to the property.

What do easements and encroachments on a survey tell a buyer?

Easements and rights of way shown on the survey reveal whether they would adversely affect the buyer's intended use of the property, and comparing them against the exceptions listed in the title commitment is part of the review. An encroachment shows where an improvement overlaps from one property to another, and its type indicates whether it is easy to remedy or expensive to cure.

Surveyors

Millman National Land Services

Millman National Land Services coordinates land surveying and zoning work for commercial real estate transactions across the United States. It runs single-site projects, high-volume multi-site programmes, and multi-state transactions, working to ALTA standards plus the relevant state and local guidelines, for law firms, lenders, title companies, large property holdings, and developers.

The core product is the ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey, supported by zoning compliance reports, environmental site assessments, property condition assessments, cell tower surveys, audits and as-builts, and research and paralegal support. Work is organised into five departments - Production, Research, Project Management, Review, and Revision - and each client is assigned a Project Coordinator as the single point of contact for the life of the file. In-house surveyors, technicians, analysts, researchers, and attorneys are used where possible, with vetted partner surveyors elsewhere.

The company states that pricing quoted at the start of a project is guaranteed if the transaction specifications remain valid for its duration, and that a survey will be delivered in fourteen business days. Its headquarters is 950 Main Avenue, Suite 800, Cleveland, Ohio, with a branch office in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; surveying work on North Carolina projects is performed by the associated firm Millman Land Surveying of North Carolina, PLLC.

The about page says the firm has twenty years of experience while also dating its office back to 1995, so the founding year is unclear from the site. Confirm turnaround and price for your specific site count, and ask which entity performs the work in each state.

Best for

Law firms, lenders, title companies, and owners running multi-site or multi-state ALTA survey and zoning report programmes who want one coordinator instead of hiring a local surveyor deal by deal.

What they do

ALTA/NSPS land title surveys
Zoning Compliance Reports (ZCR)
Environmental Site Assessments (ESA)
Property Condition Assessments (PCA)
Cell tower surveys, audits, and as-builts
Boundary surveys
Title and land research
Multi-site and multi-state survey programme coordination

Details

Attribute	Value
Other offices	Cleveland, OH, Kitty Hawk, NC
How they charge	Pricing quoted at the start of a project is guaranteed if the transaction specifications remain valid for its duration.

What stands out

Assigns each project a dedicated Project Coordinator as a single point of contact.
Work is split across five departments: Production, Research, Project Management, Review, and Revision.
States that an ALTA survey will be completed in fourteen business days.
Pricing quoted at the start is guaranteed if the transaction specifications stay valid for the duration of the matter.
Headquartered at 950 Main Avenue, Suite 800, Cleveland, Ohio, with a branch office in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
North Carolina surveying is performed by the associated firm Millman Land Surveying of North Carolina, PLLC.

Common questions

Why do lenders require an ALTA survey?: Lenders require ALTA surveys to protect their investment from adverse claims that a title search may not disclose. An ALTA survey is a boundary survey that complies with American Land Title Association standards, and the information in it helps the lender and the buyer evaluate risks attached to the property.
What do easements and encroachments on a survey tell a buyer?: Easements and rights of way shown on the survey reveal whether they would adversely affect the buyer's intended use of the property, and comparing them against the exceptions listed in the title commitment is part of the review. An encroachment shows where an improvement overlaps from one property to another, and its type indicates whether it is easy to remedy or expensive to cure.