Complaint Review: Edisto Surveryors - Orangeburg South Carolina

I had employed Edisto Surveyors, INC. to survey our property. My wife and I had decided to sell a portion of our property, which is resort property. This property fronts the Edisto River in Orangeburg SC. I had put up for sale a house and 15 acres for sale.

We had a couple that wanted to buy our property and had given us a deposit of 1200.00 dollars. This couple had gone to the bank and gotten a loan for $75,000.00 to purchase out property with. They had done every thing that was required for the purchase of out property. The only thing the buyers had left to do was sign the loan agreement with the bank. I had even verified this with the bank as to positive proof the buyers in fact had been approved for the purchase of our property.

As I said, every thing was complete except the final survey of our property. My wife and I have 55 acres and a house on the Edisto River. We had planned to keep a portion of out property to build a house on. I had a company with a track h*e building a road and building up a place on our property so that we could build a house later on. We stayed about 75 feet away from the river when we were building up our property. We had already purchased a mobile home in anticipation of placing it on our property.

We had planned to live in the mobile home until we could build our house. The mobile home was in Columbia SC and we had to move it from a good distance away which would cost to move it that far. Well this is it all became a nightmare. The owner of the Edisto Surveyors went to the couple that was buying our house and fifteen acres and told them that if they bought our place that they would not be able to do any thing on the property because in was in wetlands. The owner of Edisto Surveyors told the couple that he had thirty acres on the big Edisto River that he would sell them.

If you remember, I had a company with a track h*e building a road and building up an area for our mobile home, which was still in Columbia and had already been paid for. The owner of the Edisto Surveyors reported us to the Army Corp of Engineers. The next thing we new was we had government officials all over our property and had given us a summons to cease and assist the work in progress.

My wife and I had never dealt with any thing like this all we new was that when we bought the property it was suppose to be clear and free with no restrictions. This was on the report from the attorney that did the title search on our property. This is when the buyer came to me and told me what the owner of the Edisto Surveyors had said. The buyer told me he wanted to stop with the purchase of the house and fifteen acres and asked for his deposit back. I was in total distress by now I could not believe what was happening.

The Army Corps of Engineers slapped a fine on me for $127,000.00 dollars and told me that I would have to put our property back to the way it was before we started the work. They all so said I would have to hire a consultant out of Charleston SC to replant the trees and keep a check on the trees to make sure they were growing right. I then got a summons to appear before the magistrate about the deposit the buyers gave us. Well we had no problem with that the magistrate decided in our favor and the buyer was out of his deposit.

My wife and I had already paid the company that was doing the track h*e work, which was very expensive. The buyers backed totally out and we lost $75,000.00 plus all of the money I had paid the track h*e company and now we had a mobile home in Columbia SC with no were to put it. We had already paid for the mobile home and were ready for the move. Well the Edisto surveyors cost me well over 90,000.00 dollars because of they unethical practice.

If I could have gotten my hands on the owner of the Edisto Surveyors, I would have choked him to death. I told the Edisto Surveyors that it would be cold day in Hell before I would pay them for the work they had done. This is not a company that should even be allowed to practice. This is wrong and they no it is wrong. We now get bills from the Edisto Surveyors and they keep tacking interest on the unpaved bill. They have put it at the courthouse as a judgment on our property. The original bill was just a little over $600.00 and with the interest is now well over 1200.00 dollars.

The Edisto Surveyors should be made to pay our loss and suffering that they have caused us. I don't understand how a company like that can get away with doing this. It has now been ten years, the banks want help me fight the Corp of Engineers, and I have refused to pay another dime until they help fight the Corps. I was summonsed in to court for foreclosure proceeding and the judge told the banks that if they foreclosed they would be responsible for everything concerning our property. Well guess what the banks backed out and sent me a letter stating they had abandoned our property. They legal documents were worded in away that the banks could come back on use sometime in the future. It has now been ten years and we have heard nothing from the corps of Engineers. My wife and I had gotten a lawyer and the lawyer told the corps of Engineers that we would not go before a judge but demanded a 12-man jury.

All of this was even written in the local newspaper and took up the entire front page. Everywhere I go people stop me and ask me how I am doing and what the corps have done. They also tell me how wrong I have been done but my wife and I still suffer to this day, because of what the Edisto Surveyors have done to us.

Anthony

Cope, South Carolina
U.S.A.