LAWSUITS AGAINST SURVEYORS

This is the reason we have a court of appeals. The statute of limitations for claims against a surveyor is four years under Tenn. Code Annotated section 28-3-114. In this case, the defendant surveyor argued that the general statute for claims for damage to real property -- Tenn. Code Ann. section 28-3-105 -- should be applied. That statute provides a three year statute of limitations for injury to property. The trial court agreed and granted the surveyor's motion to dismiss. When I read this case, I asked myself how the statute for injury to real property applies when the sole allegation is that the surveyor "prepared" the survey. A survey, in and of itself, does not change the boundary line. Arguably, it creates a "cloud" on the title, but is a cloud an injury? That is another story. In any event, the court of appeals made short work of this case holding that the specific statute for surveyors superseded the more general statute for damage to real property. So, when this question comes up in Final Jeopardy, you now know the answer. The statute of limitations for lawsuits against surveyors is four (4) years. See Wanamaker v. Thaxton, et al.