INSTRUCTIONS

Simply click on the link below to register. 

You’ll then create a username and password along with entering your additional information. Then click on the catalog button, select your category, click on the name of the course for details about the course, select your course and add to cart. After you’ve purchased the course you can immediately begin. You can stop and start whenever you’d like and there is no time limit to complete the course. You can rewind the video but you cannot fast forward. Once you’ve complete the video there is a multiple choice question exam. Passing grade is 70% and you can take the test as many times as you need to pass. 

Once I receive the notification of your successful completion of the course and I receive your affidavit, I will email you your certificate.

Railroads and Railroad Rights of Way – Surveyors Only

3 hour course – $95

Professional Surveyors frequently encounter railroad rights of way in their work as they retrace boundaries, deal with questions of seniority between public roads and railroads, address abandonments or reversionary rights, or guide clients on their needs for easements or licenses over railroad rights of way. In the process they often face confusion over the status of a railroad right of way: Is it a fee ownership or just an easement? Is it abandoned or just inactive? Is it active? How does one know? How does one find Railroad Valuation Maps and vesting deeds? What about “Rails to Trails?” In this session, we will review several judicial decisions regarding railroad rights of way including Preseault v. Interstate Commerce Commission (U.S. Supreme Court, 1990), Howard v. U.S. (2012), contemporary state cases, Clark  v. CSX (2000), and Brandt v. U.S (2014).  

2021 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys for Field Techs and Managers – Surveyors Only

3 hour course – $95

This course emphasizes the field aspects of performing a 2021 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey. All elements of the standards that relate to tasks in the field are reviewed in order to achieve the goal of helping field technicians (and their managers) better understand the overriding purposes of an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey, and hence the purpose for each requirement. This understanding is critical if field technicians are to put the various requirements in context and best meet the needs of the title company, lender and client.

The Art of Retracement: Part 1 Surveyors Only

4 hour course – $115

Every professional surveyor across the United States knows the phrase “Follow in the Footsteps” as it relates to conducting a boundary retracement survey. But what does it really mean and what is the basis for following the footsteps? And exactly whose footsteps are we talking about? Surveyors also know the effect of the statute of frauds is that what is written in the conveyancing document is considered by the courts to be the highest and best expression of the parties’ intentions. But what happens when the evidence of the footsteps on the ground conflicts with the written title? What if there are seemingly no footsteps to follow? In this program we will explore the concept of retracement, how it relates to and is dependent on the document of conveyance, and what controls when conflicts and ambiguities are inevitably encountered. When armed with a full understanding of the concept of retracement, surveyors will be much better equipped to help steer their clients (and their affected neighbors) away from the pain and cost of litigation, and towards an amicable solution based on well-placed confidence and understanding of their respective roles and responsibilities. Part One covers the first half of the content and Part Two (online course coming soon) covers the second half.

Risk Management Surveyors Only

3 hour course – $95

This course is designed to help educate surveyors to the realities of liability in their practice.  The program will review liability that surveyors necessarily incur as part of their practice and how they can mitigate their exposure. Sources of unnecessary surveyor liability will also be explored by exposing the things that surveyors inadvertently or unwisely do that increase their liability. In all cases, steps that surveyors can take to eliminate or at least mitigate their exposure will be outlined.

Being an Expert Witness Surveyors and Engineers

4 hour course – $115

Surveyors often find themselves involved in legal proceedings or even in court, although hopefully as an expert and not a defendant!  This program explores a wide variety of related topics including how to avoid claims, what happens if you land in court, and the many aspects and considerations of being an expert witness such as preparing a Rule 26 Expert Report, what to expect in a deposition, what the rules of evidence are and how they may affect or apply to your work, and how to deal with the client and attorney through the process.  Several expert reports are provided as examples.

Guidelines for Writing Surveyor Reports

3 hour course – $95

Do you have questions about what to say in your Surveyor’s Report or how to say it? The presenter sees more Surveyor Reports that are substandard, and not helpful to the reader who needs to understand what was done in resolving the boundary and why, than he does otherwise. In this program we will review what Rule 12 specifically says about Surveyor Reports then provide practical, helpful advice and guidance, and offer detailed examples on how to comply with the letter of the Rule. More importantly, we will provide an outline with detailed suggestions, and discussion on how to fulfill the Rule’s underlying intent of a Surveyors Report providing clear and helpful information to those who may follow in your footsteps.