Maine man saws neighbor's garage in half...

[dodge man]

I went to a seminar and the presenters said surveyors are the ones that create gaps and overlaps. That is often true but some times the deeds are so poorly written they do exist.

GPS is a measuring tool, it does not create problems. People, surveyors and lawyers included, have trouble accepting old measurements and the fact they don’t fit today’s measuring techniques. For example say a distance was measured in the year 1882 at 1000 feet and stones were set, fences were built and a deed was written. So the surveyor comes along last week with his $60,000 gps system and measures 990 feet. The stones are still there, there are fences still there. Is there now a 10 foot overlap? Should the fences be moved? The answer is no. Monuments and long standing acceptance by land owners is superior to measurements.

 

[Jstpssng]

Many of those old deeds say "More or less"... when our town lines were established back around 1850 they were using a staff compass and steel tape; slope corrections were common, and they were supposed to correct them for temperature.

I know of one case where an unscrupulous landowner sold (6) 100 acre parcels from a 500 acre tract.

 

[Jstpssng]

Not quite right in this state. The rule is, IIRC 7 years use that the "owner new, or should have known about it" and did nothing. Safety sake on letting a neighbor use part of your land is to have it in writing and renewed periodically (depending on the period in your state).and certified

Most states seem to have the "knew or should have known) clause in their statute.

You are missing the part that it would have to be a perpetual trespass; if the landowner your assumption is incorrect.

No single statute in Washington spells out the elements that a trespasser must establish in order to prove adverse possession. The courts, however, have filled this gap by establishing a variety of such factors, over many decades of issuing decisions in actual cases.
As in most states, adverse possession in Washington is established from the nature of a trespasserç—´ possession and the length of time he or she possesses the land. A trespasserç—´ possession must be:
hostile (against the right of the true owner and without permission)
actual (exercising control over the property)
exclusive (in the possession of the trespasser alone)
open and notorious (using the property as the real owner would, without hiding the occupancy), and
continuous for the statutory period (which is ten years in Washington, under Wash. Rev. Code Ann. ｧ 4.16.020)

 

[goeduck]

I may have drilled some appropriate size holes on my side of the structure into the space to invite guests. Did type that?

 

[spitter]

Kinda like the Bugs Bunny epesode when they built the high rise around his hole.:drink:

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Used to work with a fellow who had moved here from Kentucky. Seems he bought a small plot of land in a rural area of Kentycky, and he had it surveyed...and about a 1/2 acre or so was being claimed by his neighbor. He approached him about it; they guy told him that his family had been farming that plot for several generations. He said "I never brought it up again".

 

[tallyho8]

My father homesteaded 160 acres of land in the Ozarks in the 30s and his mother homesteaded 120 acres. In the 1950s a neighbor a couple of miles away moved and stopped paying their property taxes. The county moved to claim their 40 acres and sell it for taxes due but the secretary wrote the wrong parcel number down and they took 40 acres of my fathers property. This was after he had moved to New Orleans but was still paying taxes on his land and the bills still said the taxes were for 160 acres.

This went on for several years until a neighbor phoned him saying they were cutting timber on his property leading him to investigate and find out what happened. Since the local Clerk of Court had bought his 40 acres for taxes due he was reluctant to give up the land and the county refused to do anything about it even after years of letter writing and , at that time, expensive long distance phone calls.

I inherited the 160 acres and 120 acres acres after my parents passed in the 70s, continued paying taxes, and one day received a letter from the Forestry Service asking for an easement on my 120 acres so they could make a logging road to get to a large section of their property to cut timber since it was mountainous and inaccessible any other way. I made a deal with them to grant them the temporary easement if they got my 40 acres back that was stolen from us. Several months later I was informed it was all taken care of and received a quit claim in the mail on the 40 acres and after only 20 years got our land back but never got paid for the timber they cut off it.

 

[Streetcar]

when Cincinnati was originally surveyed, they had a defective chain( too short) caused many issues with adjoining property

 

[two_bit_score]

Interesting situation. My understanding is a survey doesn稚 really establish the property line but is really just one tool in the process. If the garage has been there a while, and the article says it has, the neighbor could possibly claim ownership of the property. I bet if you lock 20 lawyers in a room you can稚 get an agreement on how this settles if it goes to court.

Sounds like the guy with the saw just beat the 20 lawyers. :laughing:

 

[Oldpath05]

I wonder if land being sold like 5 acres or more, should first be surveyed to finalize transaction.....