If you don’t give the title company a survey it accepts, your New York owner’s policy will except (leave out) “any state of facts an accurate survey would show.” That one line removes coverage for encroachments, boundary overlaps and fences off the line, risks the policy otherwise covers. A survey does not add coverage for what it shows, though: each variation it shows is listed as its own exception.
If you do provide a survey, the title company “reads” it into Schedule B, the policy’s list of exceptions. It replaces the general exception with specific items, such as a stoop over the sidewalk line, a fence 0.4 feet off the record line, or a neighbor’s garage over the boundary. The survey reading is part of the title work. A survey inspection, which updates an older survey of a home, is a separate charge.
The rate rules below apply statewide. Typical findings differ between NYC row houses, condo and co-op apartments, and Westchester houses.
What the general survey exception says
The rate manual of the Title Insurance Rate Service Association (TIRSA), the group that files New York’s title rates, sets the wording (TIRSA Rate Manual, 7th Revision, effective October 1, 2024). Without “a survey acceptable to the Company,” an owner’s policy “shall contain” the words “Subject to any state of facts an accurate survey would show,” or words with similar meaning.
One underwriter’s New York guidelines say the same. Without a guaranteed survey, the company won’t certify boundaries or measurements “and will except any state of facts an accurate Survey may show.”
The exception exists because a title search reads records, not the ground. A fence on the wrong line, or a driveway onto the neighbor’s lot, shows up only on a survey.
You don’t need a survey to get title insurance. The same guidelines say ordering one is “at the discretion of the parties.” If neither a survey nor an inspection is done, “the survey exceptions should remain in the policy.”
How it affects your coverage
Since October 1, 2024, New York policies have been issued on the 2021 forms of the American Land Title Association (ALTA) (Stewart bulletin). Covered Risk 2.c of the 2021 ALTA Owner’s Policy covers “the effect on the Title of an encumbrance, violation, variation, adverse circumstance, boundary line overlap, or encroachment (including an encroachment of an improvement across the boundary lines of the Land).” But only if it “would have been disclosed by an accurate and complete land title survey of the Land.”
The general survey exception removes exactly that. So:
- Exception left in: Covered Risk 2.c gives you essentially nothing on boundary and encroachment problems.
- Exception replaced by a survey reading: Covered Risk 2.c covers survey problems other than those the reading lists, subject to the policy’s exclusions.
Two exclusions matter here. One removes problems you knew about and didn’t disclose (Exclusion 3.b). The other removes “any discrepancy in the quantity of the area, square footage, or acreage” (Exclusion 7). How these play out in disputes is in title insurance claim examples. The whole policy is explained in the title insurance policy explained.
An owner’s policy has no automatic survey coverage. The underwriter’s guidelines say so in capital letters: “there is no automatic survey coverage in any owner’s policy.” Coverage comes from Covered Risk 2.c once the general exception is gone.
Three ways to handle it
| Route | What you provide | Schedule B result |
|---|---|---|
| New survey | Current certified survey | Survey reading |
| Old survey plus inspection | Prior survey, field check | Reading plus inspection |
| No survey | Nothing | General exception stays |
A new survey
Your attorney orders a new survey, usually through the title company or directly from a licensed land surveyor. The underwriter’s guidelines say a survey usable for insurance must:
- be “guaranteed” and certified to the title insurer
- show a north arrow and compass bearings
- be a title survey
- state a point of beginning
A survey that is not guaranteed gets a note on the reading and is “useful for information only.” The surveyor will want the title company’s Schedule A certification and the legal description when the survey is ordered.
An existing survey with an inspection
Many New York houses already have a survey from an earlier sale. Your attorney asks the seller for it, and the title company has it inspected. An inspection is a field check that notes “changes to the structures and boundary lines since the date of the survey provided.” The reading then excepts what the old survey shows plus whatever the inspection found.
The rate manual allows this only for homes. For a one-to-four family house, a condo unit used as a home, or a co-op apartment used as a home, the company “shall charge to omit, by inspection” the exception for changes since the old survey. Commercial property needs an updated survey the company accepts. The underwriter’s guidelines call inspection acceptable but “not preferred,” and say commercial surveys must be updated by the original surveyor.
At closing, the seller often signs a survey affidavit, a sworn statement that nothing has changed since the survey. The underwriter’s closing document list includes a “Survey Affidavit” and a “Fence and Boundary Affidavit.” Whether an affidavit alone is enough to remove the changes exception is up to the underwriter.
No survey
The policy is issued with the general exception. This is common in refinances, and in purchases where the parties skip the survey to save money. It is normal for condo and co-op apartments (below).
What a survey reading looks like
A survey reading is a Schedule B item listing every variation the survey shows. Its purpose, in the underwriter’s words, is to limit “the general survey exception reciting variations to boundary lines and encroachments,” such as fences, structures and driveways over the street line. The reader must say what kind of wall it is (a retaining wall is not a structural wall), and “all variations should be raised.”
The hypothetical reading below is for a Brooklyn row house, shortened.
| Survey shows | Effect |
|---|---|
| Stoop over street line 5’2″ | Excepted |
| Areaway and iron fence over street line | Excepted |
| Rear fence 0.4′ north of record line | Excepted |
| Party wall on east line | Excepted; endorsement possible |
| Side wall varies 0.1′ from record line | Excepted |
| No other variations | Covered Risk 2.c applies |
Each listed item is now a specific exception. Anything the survey would have shown but the reading leaves out falls under Covered Risk 2.c. So the reading’s wording decides what is covered. In a 2022 New York appeals court case, an exception for “driveway encroachments north of the property line as shown on a certain survey” defeated the owner’s claim when the neighbor objected to that driveway.
Your attorney reviews the reading with the survey and raises any item that matters with the seller under the contract, like other Schedule B items (title search and title report). A legal description that doesn’t match the survey must also be raised in Schedule B.
Common findings in NYC and Westchester
Stoops, areaways and fences over the street line (NYC). Brownstones and row houses often have stoops, areaways (the sunken space in front of a basement) and front fences past the lot line, on the city sidewalk. The NYC Building Code allows certain encroachments onto public property within set limits, and that permission can be revoked. Anything beyond those limits, including stoops and below-ground areaways, needs a revocable consent from the Department of Transportation (DOB code notes). You don’t own that strip, so the reading excepts it.
Party walls (NYC). Row houses share walls on or across the lot line. The reading excepts the party wall. The rate manual allows a free General Endorsement insuring against “the enforced removal of the party wall” shown on an identified survey.
Fence and wall variations (both). Fences and hedges rarely sit exactly on the record line. Readings list each variation in feet or inches and say which side of the line the fence is on. A large variation can signal an adverse possession issue, where someone gains ownership through long, open use. That is a title question, not just a survey note.
Retaining walls and driveways (mostly Westchester). Sloped suburban lots often have retaining walls and shared or crossing driveways. The underwriter requires the reader to identify retaining walls specifically. A driveway on a neighbor’s land with no recorded easement is a typical item a buyer’s attorney raises before closing.
Condos, co-ops and houses
Co-op apartments (NYC). Most co-op purchases close on a lien search, not an owner’s policy, so there is no survey exception to remove (buying a co-op in NYC).
Condo units (NYC and Westchester). The unit is defined by the condo declaration and the floor plans filed with it. State law requires those plans to show “the layout, locations, and approximate dimensions of the units” (condominium law). Buyers of single units rarely order a survey, and the survey exception typically stays. Building-wide exceptions come from the condo records, not a survey reading.
Houses (Westchester and the outer boroughs). This is where surveys matter most. Without one, a later fence, driveway or wall dispute falls within the general exception.
Loan policies and endorsements
For the lender’s policy, the rate manual treats homes and commercial property differently:
- Homes. Nothing stops the company from including the general survey exception or the changes exception.
- Commercial. Without an acceptable survey, the loan policy carries the same general exception. The changes exception may be left out without an updated survey, except for a construction loan, which needs an updated survey.
The current manual bars “affirmative coverage,” meaning a promise to insure over a listed item, in Schedule B “or otherwise,” except by an endorsement in the manual. So insuring a survey matter takes an endorsement, not special wording in the reading. Survey-related endorsements include:
| Endorsement | Charge (homes) |
|---|---|
| ALTA 28.1 Encroachments | $50 |
| ALTA 28.2 Described improvements | $50 |
| ALTA 9.1, 9.2 (owner) | $50 each |
| ALTA 9.3, 9.6 (loan) | $50 each |
| ALTA 25 and 25.1 Same as Survey | $50 |
| Party wall (General Endorsement) | No charge |
For commercial property, the ALTA 28, 28.1, 28.2 and listed ALTA 9 forms are $250 each. The manual notes that the Department of Financial Services (DFS) requires the title insurer’s approval before either series is issued.
ALTA 25 and 25.1 are $50 for homes and commercial property alike. They cover loss if the land described in Schedule A is not the same as the land on an identified survey. They replaced the old TIRSA Land Same as Survey Endorsement (Stewart bulletin). These endorsements generally require a survey, and issuing one is the underwriter’s decision, not a right. The full menu is in title insurance endorsements in New York.
What it costs
There are three separate costs. Only one is set by the rate manual.
- The survey. Paid to the surveyor, usually by the buyer. It is passed through on the title bill when the title company orders it. Prices vary by surveyor and property; the manual doesn’t set them.
- The survey reading. Part of the title examination. The manual lists no separate charge for it.
- The survey inspection. The manual requires the company to charge for it but sets no amount. It appears on the title bill as an extra charge. A DFS rule capped it for residential (home) transactions at “$75 plus the out-of-pocket costs charged by the survey inspector” (DFS regulation). A 2019 court decision struck down parts of that rule but did not name this cap, and at least one underwriter treats the cap as still in effect. The history is in the title bill explained.
The premium is the same with or without a survey (what title insurance costs).
Details for attorneys and title professionals
Where the rules sit. The general exception wording, the residential inspection rule and the commercial update rule are in the manual’s general rules on surveys. The loan policy survey rules and the ban on affirmative coverage are in the same general rules. The manual’s endorsement sections set the ALTA 28 and ALTA 9 charges, the free party wall endorsement and the $50 charge for endorsements not otherwise priced. The section numbers are listed under Official sources.
Underwriter guidance dates. The underwriter guidelines quoted here are dated December 2022, before the 2024 rate manual. They are cited only for practice points the 2024 changes did not affect.
Street encroachments. The DOB code notes summarize the Building Code’s chapter on encroachments onto public property. They cover the rule that this permission is revocable and the rule that below-grade areaways need a DOT consent. They also cover the DOT rule that makes stoops beyond the code limits eligible for revocable consent.
Official sources
- TIRSA Rate Manual, 7th Revision, effective October 1, 2024: Sections 1 (Residential Real Property), 2(C)(2), 2(J), 2(J)(1), 2(J)(2), 2(K)(1), 2(K)(2), 28, 30, 32(B), 33(D)(13), 33(D)(16), 33(G); ALTA 25-06 and 25.1-06 forms in Part VI
- 2021 ALTA Owner’s Policy: Covered Risk 2.c; Exclusions 3 and 7
- Stewart Title, New York guidelines for agents (Dec. 13, 2022): §§ VI.D, VII.A.6, VII.A.10, VIII.A, VIII.B, VIII.C, VIII.C.2, VIII.E, IX.A to IX.C, XVIII.C.2 (underwriter guidance)
- Stewart bulletin NY000711: 2021 ALTA forms; ALTA 25 replaces TIRSA Land Same as Survey
- 11 NYCRR § 228.5(a)(6): survey inspection fee cap (Regulation 208)
- NY Real Property Law § 339-p: condominium floor plans
- NYC DOB, code notes on revocable consent: Building Code Chapter 32, BC 3201.5, BC 3202.1.3; DOT rules § 7-04(a)(27)
- Pierot v Chicago Tit. Ins. Co., 2d Dept, Feb. 16, 2022