Surveyor's license already on probation to settle five cases involving other inaccurate surveys.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) -- The real estate listing described the property as "your dream home's canvas."
That's what Donna Hartl and her husband believed when they paid $17,500 earlier this year so they could relocate from North Dakota.
The property is nestled between Islewood Drive and Richbarn Road in Brooksville.
"We really wanted to have some privacy, not be stranded out in the country," Donna Hartl said. "We just felt this was the perfect match.
"I was getting the green light on everything, my property was being brought up on the GIS map at the county, I got my setback, what I could and couldn't do. I could bring a modular home in, a mobile home, or I could do a single family residence."
At the time of the listing, there was a slender utility pole on the land.
It wasn't until they reached Duke Energy that they learned of a 1955 easement that takes up most of their property and prohibits building anything other than a fence.
So, why weren't they told this when they bought the land, and how was it marketed as a home site?
Consumer Investigator Shannon Behnken dug into documents they were provided by the seller's broker.
A boundary survey makes no mention of even the pole no hint of the utility easement.
We found state records show Nexgen Surveying, LLC, of West Palm Beach, and its licensed surveyor, are already in hot water with state regulators.
Records show that the same month surveyor Clyde McNeal signed off on this survey, he agreed to state probation to settle five cases involving inaccurate surveys.
He agreed to pay a $5,000 fine, complete 12 hours of continuing education and have some of his surveys reviewed by the board.
Behnken sat down with Chris McLaughlin, the past board chair.
"You go over the evidence and complaints that were filed and a lot of them are very similar to this, some kind of harm showed by failing to show something, failing to make the user aware of the information on the ground," McLaughlin said.
He said the pole should have been noted and questions raised about a utility easement.
McLaughlin said the surveyor is required to visit the property in person.
He also pointed out this is an example of why buyers should get their own surveys, so there is another opportunity to catch something like this.
Meanwhile, Behnken reached out to Nexgen several times, and no one has called back. Hartl said she has filed complaints with the Florida Attorney General's Office and several state regulators.
Hartl said Nexgen representatives tell her that they note information on the survey that is provided to them by the client, which was the seller of the property.