What happens if your Flower Mound survey shows an encroachment or easement problem?

You object in writing, and you do it on a deadline. Under Paragraph 6D of the Texas resale contract (TREC 20-19), a buyer can object to defects the survey discloses, and the seller then has 15 days to cure them. If the seller can't or won't, you can terminate and get your earnest money back, or waive the objection and close anyway. The catch is the clock: miss the objection deadline written into your contract and the problem becomes yours.

Most survey surprises are fixable. A fence that wandered, a shed that sits where it shouldn't, an easement nobody mentioned. What hurts buyers is rarely the problem itself. It's finding it late, or finding it on time and not knowing there was a deadline attached. If you're still deciding whether to order a survey at all, start with whether you need a new survey when buying in Flower Mound. This article picks up after the drawing is in your hands.

First, figure out which kind of problem you have

Surveyors draw two very different things, and they call for different responses.

An encroachment is something physical crossing a line it shouldn't. It runs in three directions:

• The seller's improvements cross onto a neighbor. The classic is a fence two feet over the line. You'd be buying a fence you don't fully own the ground under.
• A neighbor's improvements cross onto the lot you're buying. A shed corner, a driveway flare, a retaining wall. You'd be buying land someone else is using.
• The home's own improvements cross a building line or sit inside an easement. Nobody's neighbor is involved, but a rule is.

An easement is not a mistake. It's someone else's recorded right to use part of the lot: a utility strip along the back fence, a drainage path, a pipeline, shared access. Nearly every platted lot in Flower Mound has utility easements, and that's normal. Near Grapevine Lake, some lots also carry a federal flowage easement, which I covered in what to check on Flower Mound homes that back to green space.

Here's the local detail that turns an easement from a line on paper into a real decision. The Town of Flower Mound's pool permit packet says no portion of a pool, pool deck, or pool equipment may be located in any easement, and the pool has to sit at least five feet from the rear and side property lines. The Town's accessory building rules say the same thing about sheds and shops: not within any easement, and at least three feet off the rear and interior side lines.

So an easement running across the back third of the yard isn't a technicality. It decides whether the pool you've been picturing can be permitted at all. And a shed the survey shows sitting inside an easement is sitting somewhere the Town says it shouldn't be.

The Paragraph 6D clock, step by step

This is the part a national article can't walk you through, because it's written into the Texas contract itself.

1. The survey arrives. Either the seller's existing survey with a T-47 affidavit, or a new one.
2. The title company reviews it and issues the title commitment. Schedule B lists what the policy won't cover. Schedule C lists what has to be cleared before closing. (More on both in what a Flower Mound title company actually does.)
3. Your objection deadline starts running. You must object by the earlier of the closing date or the number of days written into the blank in Paragraph 6D, counted from when you've received the commitment, the exception documents, and the survey. All three. That blank is negotiated, and it's often a small number.
4. You object in writing. Name the item and what you want done about it. A phone call to the listing agent is not an objection.
5. The seller gets a 15-day Cure Period. The contract says the seller shall cure timely objections, provided the seller is not obligated to incur any expense. The closing date extends as necessary.
6. If it isn't cured, you choose. You have five days after the Cure Period ends to terminate and receive your earnest money back, or to waive the objection. Say nothing and you're deemed to have waived it.

Two things in that paragraph catch people.

You can't object to everything. On the survey, the contract carves out the standard items in 6A(1) through (7), which include restrictive covenants common to the subdivision and utility easements created by the plat. A ten-foot utility easement along the back fence that every lot on the street shares is not grounds to object. An easement or encroachment outside those categories is.

There's a blank most people skip. Paragraph 6D also lets you object to title matters "which prohibit the following use or activity," followed by an empty line. If the reason you're buying this lot is to add a pool, a detached garage, or a shop, write it there. It gives you standing to object if something on the survey or in the commitment blocks that plan.

One more clock is running alongside this one. Your option period is the unrestricted exit, and it's usually shorter than you'd like. The best position is to have the survey in hand before it expires, so you have two ways out instead of one.

How survey problems actually get fixed

The usual fixes, from simplest to most final:

• Move it. A fence or small shed gets relocated before closing. Simple, and it makes the problem disappear from the next survey too.
• Paper it. The two neighbors sign a boundary or encroachment agreement and record it with Denton County, so the arrangement is documented for every future owner. A Texas real estate attorney drafts it.
• Get the easement holder's consent or release. If an improvement sits in a utility easement, the utility can sometimes consent to it in writing or release the part it doesn't use. Sometimes the answer is no.
• Adjust the price and accept it. You waive the objection in exchange for a credit, with eyes open about what you're inheriting.
• Upgrade the title coverage. A standard Texas owner's policy excepts "discrepancies, conflicts, shortages in area or boundary lines, encroachments or protrusions, or overlapping improvements." Paragraph 6A(8) lets you have that exception amended to read "shortages in area" only. On a residential owner's policy it costs 5% of the basic premium, which one North Texas title company's March 2026 rate sheet puts at about $261 on a $1,000,000 policy. It requires a survey the title company accepts.
• Walk away. If it isn't cured and you can't live with it, the contract gives you that right inside the five-day window.

Be clear on what the survey coverage does and doesn't do. It protects you against boundary problems the survey missed. It does not insure over a problem the survey shows. The title company will list that specific fence or shed as its own exception in Schedule B, which is exactly why you object to it instead of assuming the policy has your back.

If you're selling your current home while you buy the next one, flip this around. Find your own survey before you list. If you've added a pool, a patio cover, or moved a fence since it was drawn, you can't honestly sign the T-47 saying nothing changed, and your buyer will be running this same clock on you.

When to fix it, when to live with it, when to walk

Every lot is different, and this is where a clear-headed second opinion earns its keep. A few patterns hold up:

• A shared fence that's off by inches. Common on older plats. Usually a live-with-it item, sometimes with a short recorded agreement.
• A neighbor's structure on your side of the line. Get it resolved before closing. It's far easier while the seller still needs something from you.
• An easement across the spot you planned to build on. Call the Town's Building Inspections office before your objection deadline, not after. If the pool or shop can't be permitted there, you want to know while you can still object or exit.
• A building or pool already sitting in an easement. Treat it seriously. The easement holder's rights don't go away because the improvement has been there a while, and the Town's rules don't allow it there today.
• An easement that isn't on the plat. Read the recorded document itself, which comes with the commitment as an exception document. The width, the purpose, and who holds it are all in there.

I think of this as plain stewardship. You're about to put a great deal of your family's equity into a piece of ground. Reading the drawing of that ground carefully, and on time, is part of handling it well.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you back out of a Texas home purchase if the survey shows an encroachment?

Yes, if you follow the contract. Under Paragraph 6D of the TREC resale contract you object in writing by your deadline, the seller has 15 days to cure, and if it isn't cured you have five days to terminate and receive your earnest money back. During your option period you can also terminate for any reason.

How long does a seller have to fix a survey problem in Texas?

Fifteen days after receiving your written objection. The contract calls this the Cure Period, and the closing date extends as necessary to allow for it. The seller is not obligated to spend money to cure, so some objections end in a negotiation instead of a repair.

Can you build a pool over an easement in Flower Mound?

No. The Town of Flower Mound's pool permit packet states that no portion of a pool, pool deck, or pool equipment may be located in any easement. The pool must also sit at least five feet from the rear and side property lines, so check the survey against your plans before your objection deadline.

Who pays to fix an encroachment found on a survey?

It's negotiable. Sellers often pay to move a fence or record an agreement because they want the sale to close, but the contract doesn't force them to incur expense. If the seller declines, your choices are to waive the objection, negotiate a credit, or terminate within the contract's window.

Does title insurance cover boundary and encroachment problems in Texas?

Not by default. A standard Texas owner's policy excepts boundary conflicts and encroachments. You can pay to amend that exception to "shortages in area" only, which on a residential policy costs 5% of the basic premium and requires an acceptable survey. Problems the survey already shows are still listed as specific exceptions.

Read the survey before the deadline reads it for you

A survey problem is rarely the end of a deal. It's a question with a deadline: object in writing, give the seller the Cure Period, then decide. The buyers who get hurt are the ones who glance at the drawing at the closing table. The ones who do well read it the day it arrives, with someone who knows what the lines mean in this town.

If you're thinking through a purchase like this, schedule a free Move-Up Strategy Call ... thirty minutes, no pitch, just a clear-headed look at where you are and what your best next move looks like.

This article is general information, not legal, tax, insurance, or lending advice. Verify your specific deadlines and options with your agent, your title company, and where appropriate a licensed Texas attorney.

About Brian White

Brian White helps families in Northwest DFW make their move-up cleanly, selling and buying in one synchronized step. He built BlueFuse Group on a simple standard: other-first service, proactive at every turn, faith and excellence in equal measure. Brian has been married to Tisha for 27 years and is dad to three adult sons. When he's not protecting a family's equity or untangling a tight closing timeline, you'll find him chasing a round of golf or at Valley Creek Church.

Schedule a Move-Up Strategy Call ... no pitch, just a clear-headed look at your next move.