I feel absolutely sick to my stomach.

[Bikewanderer]

I just finished reading mdbarb's easement thread. I am in shock. This should be required reading for anyone this forum.

 

[Bikewanderer]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/14251-help-i-need-legal-advice.html

 

[dmccarty]

I just finished reading mdbarb's easement thread. I am in shock. This should be required reading for anyone this forum.

Agree. I try to mention MDBARB's story when property line conversations start on TBN. It is a LONG read but at least you can get to the ending now. When the events were playing out in real time it seemed like it was taking an eternity to resolve the case. When the case ended the way it did, everyone was shocked.

MDBARB paid a heavy price for our education but there are valuable lessons in his thread. I think of his situation often.

Later,
Dan

 

[dodge man]

Through my work as a a land surveyor, I've seen a couple of cases where people have had land disputes over easements and shared driveways. They often get very expensive.

 

[Bikewanderer]

The result of the lawsuit was $422,000.00 for pain and suffering. Both parties stayed neighbors. I couldn't imagine.

 

[dmccarty]

The result of the lawsuit was $422,000.00 for pain and suffering. Both parties stayed neighbors. I couldn't imagine.

As bad as that is, it could be worse. I have read more than one story where people have been killed over property line disputes.

Later,
Dan

 

[plowindeeper]

I read the entire thing. I have been having issues with my property line for eight years. Been to court with one neighbor three times already (and won). Just fenced another section of fence and probably will be going back to court with another neighbor. His tread made me want to go ahead and fence my property even though I had property line issues.

 

[flingwing1969]

In order for there to be adverse possession, the adverse party must openly occupy the property exclusively and must keep others off it, and use it as if it were his own. This is called hostile possession which must be continual and - here's the very important part in the case stated - without the owner of record's challenge or PERMISSION. In this case, because the guy with the RV didn't know he was on another's property prior to being notified by the new owner, he was not a hostile possessor and, once the new owner gave him permission, pending a later mutual agreement, he could never become a hostile possessor and would not prevail under statutory adverse possession - unless the statute says otherwise this is common law. All hostile possessors are initially trespassers and can be evicted by the owner of record and are subject to arrest under local trespassing law - the theory is that the owner of a property who cares, needs to be aware of his property's condition and take action to protect his/her interests.

Easements are another matter - the way it was described, the neighbor had a right to a 20' easement regardless of the size of the actual road over which the easement was permitted. I didn't find what the outcome was except that the OP lost, but I don't know lost what.

 

[Ken73]

As bad as that is, it could be worse. I have read more than one story where people have been killed over property line disputes.

This would have been me. I don't think I could keep my cool if someone pulled that on me. Thankfully I have a complete survey of my place and only share a fence with one neighbor - to which they've already agreed about the fence I'm replacing.

 

[dodge man]

I'd just like to say land owners are obligated to defend their boundaries. They should know exactly where they are and protect them. In my area, I'd say 99% of the property that gets sold does so without a survey. This holds true for both rural land and houses in town. This is usually the most expensive thing a person will buy in a lifetime, yet they often don't want to spend the money for a survey. I've seen people building homes that cost $300,000 balk at the cost of a $500 survey. I've seen farmers buy land worth over a million dollars balk at the cost of a survey that is a few thousand dollars. Most of the time neighbors get along and there is no problems. On ocassion there is a major boundary problem, but the people work it out with my help. Then on the rare ocassion, there is a major boundary problem and the people don't work it out. They end up in court, and it cost thousands. The truth is, I often find when people end up in court over a boundary dispute, they often have other issues and the boundary is something they can fight over. 9 out of 10 times, if the people had a survey done, the problem never would have cropped up. This is not the case in Mbarb's case though.