Opinion ID: 2068637
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Negligence of Alan Stanley

Text: Alan Stanley marked a fence line along the southern boundary of the Reasor property and he did so without consulting the deeds either for the Reasor property or for the eight lots to the south. On appeal, Reasor argued that the trial court erroneously failed to find Stanley negligent for failing to consult the deeds. Because the fence line lies to the north of the line reflected in the deeds, Reasor argues that she was injured by Stanley's negligence in a number of ways. The Court of Appeals agreed with Reasor's argument and ordered the trial court to determine damages. Reasor, 615 N.E.2d at 138-39. There is no question that professionals may be held liable in tort if they fail to exercise reasonable care in the fulfillment of their contractual duties. [10] Flint & Walling Mfg. Co. v. Beckett (1906), 167 Ind. 491, 498, 79 N.E. 503, 505. See also Essex v. Ryan (1983), Ind. App., 446 N.E.2d 368, 371 and cases cited there. Surveyors are no exception. Id. The issue presented to us is whether a surveyor is negligent per se for failing to consult deeds when marking a fence line. In almost every imaginable case, we think a surveyor would be negligent in not consulting existing deeds for legal descriptions when he or she undertakes to mark a fence line. But we have before us the exceptional case and therefore reject the per se rule that the Court of Appeals applied. The trial court concluded that there was a meeting of the minds between the Reasors and the purchasers of the lots as to what real estate was to be conveyed, but due to errors or inadequacies in the conveying documents, the descriptions do not accurately reflect the true intention of the parties. Conclusion of Law No. 3. It is our understanding that all the deeds in this case were inadequate or ambiguous on their face, that they were negligently prepared by Alan Stanley, that Stanley has admitted as much, and that it was the trial court's judgment that Stanley bear the cost of reforming all of the deeds. To apply a per se rule in this case would hold Stanley negligent for failing to rely on the deeds that he himself had negligently prepared and that were, in any case, inadequate on their face. This is too much, especially since it might well have been negligent of Stanley to rely on those deeds in view of his personal knowledge both of the parties and of the history of the transfers. We are not saying that Stanley is not liable to Reasor in connection with his marking of the fence line. Because we are remanding the entire reformation portion of this case to the trial court, we cannot say where the final property lines will lie after reformation of the deeds. If, however, the Reasor's fence still lies to the north of where it should after reformation of the deeds, and if the misplacement of the fence was proximately caused by Stanley's original negligent preparation of the deeds, then Stanley will be liable to Reasor for damages arising from the misplacement of the fence.