Reason #5 for requiring land surveys in real estate transactions

There are numerous unrecorded rights that can affect title to land which may not show up in a title search but will become obvious upon an inspection of the property. The right of a neighbor to use utility lines, drainage ditches, sewer lines, and unrecorded travel easements across the property may have been acquired by prescription or other methods of land transfer by un-written means. A visual inspection of the property will usually give some physical indication as to whether such adverse rights may exist; i.e. the presence of manholes or vent pipes suggest underground sewers or utilities. Only a survey in which unrecorded physical features are referenced to the property line will induce typically a title insurance company to remove its exception of the title policy in regard to "any state of facts an accurate survey might show".