neighbor built over my property line

I have a fence that encircles my property and (I believe) it is built 6 inches inside of my property line. A few years ago one of my neighbors poured a concrete walk right up against the fence, i.e. it is 6 inches over the line. I never said anything because it doesn't cause me a problem, however he is now going to sell his house and I think he should cut the walkway back to his edge of the line (at least) before he sells. I haven't talked to him about it yet but I will be doing so soon. I may need to get a surveyor to establish the property line. Then, if my neighbor won't cut his walkway back I may have to take him to court. Does any one here have any suggestions?

Bill S.

Reply to
Patches Forever
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You said "it doesn't cause me a problem," so why worry about it and go through the expense of getting a surveyor?

Reply to
Karl S

It's an important issue, because if it goes unaddressed, it becomes a permanent easement on your property--in NY, I think it's 10 years of unaddressed encroachment. Has caused big g-d problems for people, just cuz they were "nice guys". I'm no spert, but I believe you can address this w/o making him actually take it out, by having him pay $1/yr for the use of sed property, which would become part of the paperwork of his sale. This way, you can cancel the "lease" at any time, and reclaim your property, if nec. Or just preserve the value of your prop. by having that option always at hand. Consult a lawyer, it shouldn't really have to go to court. If the neighbor becomes a hard-ass, just tell'im: Look, sign the papers, pay me my fukn dollar a year, or become liable for all my court costs, damage claims, psych distress, blah blah.

Or, YOU can be the hard-ass and push for removal. Not that you wouldn't be entitled, just proly a little more confrontational.

Reply to
Proctologically Violated©®

Reply to
bob kater

You may be toast depending on the laws in your area. In some places you have x amount of time to bring an issue to the attention of the offending party otherwise the land is ceded to them. In other places it is still yours. IOW, need more info.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

First you'd better go to the expense of getting a new survey for your property to make sure you're correct. It seems to me you're trying to open a big can of worms for no apparent gain, since you haven't lost anything. You've let the sidewalk sit there for years, and now you want your neighbor to go to the expense of removing part of it when he's already going to move away. You can't lose that 6" through adverse posession, since presumably you're going to be using it occasionally, if only for fence maintenance, and are paying taxes on the property. If the sidewalk is actually causing you a real problem rather than a perceived problem (ie, it's located where you want to put a gate, or plant some shrubbery) you should be able remove it -- it's your property -- but it would be petty to do so without prior mention to your neighbor.

What's more likely to happen is that the sale will require a new survey, and that new survey will show that the neighbor's sidewalk runs outside his property limits. That may even be an obstacle to the sale, and thus becomes the neighbor's problem. Better that you should work with the old neighbor or the new neighbor to solve the issue amicably rather than be seen as the source of local problems.

If you're certain the sidewalk is on your property and you now want it removed, you need to make 2-3 phone calls -- (1) to your neighbor to inform him of the problem; (2) to the neighbor's real estate agent to tell them that you want to protect your rights to the 6" strip in question, and perhaps (3) to your city/county code enforcement to report a violation of local code. But if you do, you'll come off as the bad guy in the scenario.

In our area, apparently several surveys mismarked property lines by 1' or more. When the mistake was discovered it meant that at least one of the houses was now built into the set-back area of the side boundary. A couple of us just jointly planted a couple of shrubs on the line to give us a good reference for any future construction, but one owner dug holes and put in 6' tall 4x4 posts at several points along the perimeter -- they look silly -- like miniature undecorated telephone poles -- and he has essentially isolated himself from the rest of this friendly community.

Of course, we're dealing with 1/2 or 1 acre lakefront lots that are 300+ feet deep. Misplacing something by 6" usually isn't going to even be noticed. Just for reference, how big is the lot in question?

Reply to
JimR

Before I'd go to the expense of hiring a surveyor I'd find a friend who has a metal detector and find your property stakes. At settle- ment you should have been given a plat map of your property. If you find that the walk is on your side of the line I'd check with the county to see what your options are. Do you know if your neighbor had a permit to put in the walk? There should have been an inspection, at least they do in my county. If all else fails make an appointment for a free consultation before deciding. If you're on good terms I'd talk to your neighbor when you have all the facts. Or, you may just decide to forget it, you're probably not going to be using those 6 inches anyway and if there is an easement issue his walk will have to come up.

Good Luck

Reply to
Photon713

I would be very careful about requiring him to remove 6" of sidewalk. You are required to maintain that 6". And I'm pretty sure he would not allow you to get on his property to do it. Can you maintain that 6" from your side of the fence?

--Andy Asberry recommends NewsGuy--

Reply to
Andy Asberry

A lady at work had a property dispute over 6" of land. They were correct, but spent over $32,000 in legal fees to prove they were correct. Think hard before you open that can of worms. There is no simple or cheap way of removing 6" from a concrete walk. The right time to speak up was when the forms were put in place.

If they do move the walk, how will you maintain that strip of grass? Surely, the neighbor will kick your ass off of his walk of you go over there to trim the grass or paint the fence.

It may be smart to let everyone know where the property line is, but to demand remediation can be a money pit for all involved. As a bonus, you get to live next door to someone that now hates you. Consider the $1 a year leas that was mentioned in another post and have a beer with the neighbors, both the old and new.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Karl S wrote in news:ijnm8dhacww7.qowa0ftnru21$. snipped-for-privacy@40tude.net:

Because after some period of time,it allows the neighbor to claim that piece of property as THEIRS,and reducing the value of your property in the process.

Reply to
Jim Yanik

No, this does not meet the requirements for "adverse possession". Residential encroachments generally don't.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

If its only 6" its not much but you pay taxes and some areas taxes are alot, a few years wont establish adverse possession , but you are not even sure yet on lines, get his survey look at yours, offer to sell him the 6"

Reply to
m Ransley

How many years? Look up the legal term "laches."

Nick

Reply to
nicksanspam

You need to contact a local attorney. In many areas if a neighbor has used the property as his own and cared for it, after a given time (usually X number of years) and the owner has not raised an objection, the neighbor actually can claim legal title to it. If that is the case, your fence may now be illegal as most areas require a set back from the property line.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

What use do you have for that six inches of property? How can you possibly enjoy it with your fence blocking access? I'd just write it off and be done with it. If the fence ever needs replacing, talk to your neighbor with survey in hand to make sure you two are on the same page when you install the new fence. Then try to put your fence up to the edge of your property or even center the fence on the property line. The fence benefits both of you, so maybe your neighbor would even help replace a fence when/if it comes into dis-repair.

Reply to
Les

How is he going to put any new fence on his property line when that would put the fence 6" into the neighbor's sidewalk? I'm amazed that people would put up with this crap from inconsiderate AH neighbors. I would not put up with it.

First, you need to get at least a first order understanding of exactly where the property line is. If there are existing metal stakes or monuments, that would be OK to start. If not, then you need a survey, which you will anyway if you're going fully purue this.

If the sidewalk is on your side, then I would next check with local code officials and see what code says about how close to property lines sidewalks can be placed, if permits are needed and if so, was a permit obtained. I'd also do this for your own fence to make sure you are in compliance as this is surely to come up as you pursue it. If there is an obvious code violation, then I'd start with that angle, as you may be able to get the municipality to take action.

I would not just let this go, as some have suggested, for several reasons. Laws vary by state in situations like this and no one here can tell you the exact laws in your state. If you let this go, you could wind up with the neighbor having either an easement or possibly even actual claim to the land under the sidewalk. And what if you want to sell your home one day? With current disclosure laws, in most places, you would be required to disclose that you know about this encroachement. And if you play dumb, what if the seller finds it out before closing and then demands that you fix it? It could tie up your selling your home for months or more. Or finds it later and takes you to small claims court?

Right now, if the neighbor is trying to sell his property, you are in a much better position. He has every incentive to quickly rectify this, otherwise, he's got a problem that could block his sale. Plus, if he's moving, even if you piss him off, he will be gone.

Why didn't you notice this and do something about it when the forms were going up? That certainly doesn;'t make it your problem though. Anyone doing any work like this close to a property line should have been the party getting a surveyor out to establish the correct line.

Reply to
trader4

I suspect that if you do end up bringing a legal action you will learn what the term "de minimus" means. The court might very likely say that six inches on the "other side" of your fence isn't significant enough to be considered damaging to you, compared to what it would take for the neighbor to remove that strip of concrete.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Wisnia

I agree with Jeffry. I would not suggest bringing legal action, but I do believe it would be a good idea to find out what the local legal issues are. It might prove helpful and there may be a clock running limiting the time to get things straight and simple with out any legal action.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

I doubt any court would find that pouring a concrete sidewalk 6" onto someone elses property is acceptable. Why? Because besides it's obvious the neighbor is clearly in the wrong, for a court to just let this go sends a message to everyone else that's it's ok and acceptable, which just encourages it. And I'm amazed that there are people who would put up with this crap and let others walk all over them and just look the other way. People who pull this crap aren't just doing it by mistake. You'd have to be a complete moron to pour a sidewalk without knowing for sure, via a survey, where the line is.

Anybody puts a sidewalk on my property, it's gonna be outta there PDQ.

Reply to
trader4

Andy writes: If you want advice on this, I suggest you post to misc.legal.moderated which has a lot of attorneys that hang out there and regularly give advice on things like this...

At the very least, you should send your neighbor a registered letter before he sells it, saying that you have no objection to his using part of your property for his fence but reserve the right to have him remove it, pending a valid survey, in the future.

That should protect you in an adverse possession claim, but, more important, will put your knowledge of the encroachment on record......

That way you can tell the "new" owner that you don't object, and that you sent a letter to to person who sold it to him before the sale, , and the new owner will have the old owner to bitch to......

But valid legal advice is not a bad idea at all...

Andy in Eureka

( not an attorney, nor related to one )

Reply to
Andy

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