01-13-2009, 11:23 AM
Theodore Jay wrote
I actually had a situation like this where I would potentially have had the claim.
Two parcels of adjacent land, one had a house and improvements on it since the 60's, and the other was vacant. I can only speculate that the survey was inaccurate, because the owners who built the house put the driveway right down the center line, so that half of it was on the other property.
They even had a car repair business where they had those mechanic's wells poured with concrete so you can get under the vehicle, on the other property, so they weren't just using it.
Almost 40 years later, the next door owner goes to sell his land, has a survey done, and I can only speculate he discovered the encroachment and went to cure it by recording an easement over half width of the driveway in favor of the other property. The easement was dated 1998, and recorded a month before the title transferred, so that tells a story.
I bought the property with the existing house, and the seller's agent nor the sellers explained the driveway easement when I was shown it. I only learned of it when I got the Title Report, and frankly, I didn't see the implications, and neither did my agent. If I had seen what was coming, I would have canceled based on the title report. Lesson learned, check that prelim title report, and any easements, make sure you know where they are.
So then the neighbors showed up just after I closed, and decided to build, and because of where the property line was, and because an easement counts for the setback requirement, they built just a few feet (literally) from the edge of the driveway, WAY too close to me. And I had no land along my driveway to put a fence or screening. And they didn't respect the easement, and constantly parked in it and blocked our access.
Not only did they not respect the easement, but they didn't understand it, and tried to claim my driveway was theirs to use, when only half of it was - and their half wasn't wide enough for a vehicle because it was all only ten feet wide. They should have put in their own driveway but it was easier to use mine.
So I seriously considered whether I had rights to that strip of driveway under adverse possession, as it had been used openly and without "permission" for over 40 years, and I am sure the people who poured it thought it was theirs. I mean who goes to the expense of pouring half the driveway on the neighbor's land and giving it away. And even the house setbacks were done to the edge of the driveway, and the house was permitted and inspected and passed. It was obviously a confusion about the property line.
Ultimately I just decided I couldn't live next to those neighbors and sold the property, which was a big loss for me because we worked our hearts out fixing it up and the neighbors took away all our privacy.
quote:
A neighbor started to use a part of land they didn't actually own. The adjacent land owner was doing a survey of their land to possibly sell their property and noticed the unwanted intrusion. Due to the time lag, when they protested the neighbor used the adverse possesion rule and won in court.
I actually had a situation like this where I would potentially have had the claim.
Two parcels of adjacent land, one had a house and improvements on it since the 60's, and the other was vacant. I can only speculate that the survey was inaccurate, because the owners who built the house put the driveway right down the center line, so that half of it was on the other property.
They even had a car repair business where they had those mechanic's wells poured with concrete so you can get under the vehicle, on the other property, so they weren't just using it.
Almost 40 years later, the next door owner goes to sell his land, has a survey done, and I can only speculate he discovered the encroachment and went to cure it by recording an easement over half width of the driveway in favor of the other property. The easement was dated 1998, and recorded a month before the title transferred, so that tells a story.
I bought the property with the existing house, and the seller's agent nor the sellers explained the driveway easement when I was shown it. I only learned of it when I got the Title Report, and frankly, I didn't see the implications, and neither did my agent. If I had seen what was coming, I would have canceled based on the title report. Lesson learned, check that prelim title report, and any easements, make sure you know where they are.
So then the neighbors showed up just after I closed, and decided to build, and because of where the property line was, and because an easement counts for the setback requirement, they built just a few feet (literally) from the edge of the driveway, WAY too close to me. And I had no land along my driveway to put a fence or screening. And they didn't respect the easement, and constantly parked in it and blocked our access.
Not only did they not respect the easement, but they didn't understand it, and tried to claim my driveway was theirs to use, when only half of it was - and their half wasn't wide enough for a vehicle because it was all only ten feet wide. They should have put in their own driveway but it was easier to use mine.
So I seriously considered whether I had rights to that strip of driveway under adverse possession, as it had been used openly and without "permission" for over 40 years, and I am sure the people who poured it thought it was theirs. I mean who goes to the expense of pouring half the driveway on the neighbor's land and giving it away. And even the house setbacks were done to the edge of the driveway, and the house was permitted and inspected and passed. It was obviously a confusion about the property line.
Ultimately I just decided I couldn't live next to those neighbors and sold the property, which was a big loss for me because we worked our hearts out fixing it up and the neighbors took away all our privacy.