ALTA/NSPS Surveys in San Rafael, CA

San Rafael carries most of the commercial property types Marin has to offer, and each one surfaces a different title problem. Northgate-area retail and the shopping-center parcels come with reciprocal access and parking easements that outlive the original tenants. Downtown mixed-use blocks have party walls, shared stairs, and encroaching awnings and signs. The Andersen Drive and Francisco Boulevard corridors hold industrial and flex buildings crossed by utility and drainage rights. Canal-area multifamily sits on low ground near the water, where fill, bulkheads, and access rights make the description and the flood exception both worth checking. Layered across the city are PG and E lines, water and sanitary district facilities, the SMART rail corridor, and Caltrans right of way along Highway 101.

Our ALTA work starts in the record: the preliminary title report, every plotted exception, prior Records of Survey, subdivision and parcel maps, and Corner Records from the Marin County Surveyor, with recorded documents from the Marin County Recorder here in the county seat. In the field we recover monuments, resolve the boundary, and locate improvements, then match what exists against what the title company listed. Table A items get selected to the deal rather than ordered wholesale, commonly including flood zone determination, gross land area, zoning setback plotting, exterior improvements, substantial features, parking counts, utilities from observed evidence and utility-company plans, adjoiners, and offsite easements.

Where the site is dense or the improvements are complex, our Trimble laser scanner records building corners, canopies, curbs, walls, and pavement in one pass, so an encroachment question raised in the review cycle is answered from the cloud rather than by remobilizing before a closing date. Deliverables are the signed and sealed ALTA/NSPS survey with the required certification, a layered DWG, and a written response to the title company on each exception. Background on the process is in our complete guide to ALTA surveys, and existing-building documentation is covered on our San Rafael as-built surveys page.