Mowed a section of land on neighbors property

[tradosaurus]

White knights in force.
I cut the trail not knowing about the boundary lines.
Not trying to claim more land
If neighbor wants to move fence then great.
There is no moral issue here.
That’s is all.

 

[ultrarunner]

Nothing says a fence has to be on a property line.

One property the line is a drainage ditch but I’m not putting a fence in a ditch subject to heaving in winter so I placed it 1 meter back.

The adjoining owner thought he owned 1 meter of my land up to the fence…

I mentioned it too him and glad I did because he planed to move the drainage ditch a meter up to my fence…

He pulled his survey and I had mine… showed the ditch on the line and my fence 1 meter set back.

 

[two_bit_score]

The only future problem I could see is that I could have acquired 10 feet more of property through adverse possession.

In Texas you won't acquire any legal rights to anything under those facts. Even a layman like me knows that.

 

[two_bit_score]

Adverse possession takes 20 years and I believe the neighbor needs to know you are using the land and not argue the property line.

In Texas you better get him to sign a gift deed or a quitclaim deed if you intend to assert rights to real property under those circcumstances. The current owner may not care but when he passes his heirs probably will kick you off. Or, he could sell it and the buyer gets a survey and finds you encroching and kicks you off. Either way you have no rights even after 20 years.

 

[two_bit_score]

I think I’ll let sleeping dogs lie.

Good idea. Just mowing and maintaining without doing anything to damage it or leaving anything or structures. If he did notice it and object then just stop trespassing.

 

[two_bit_score]

It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Walking on somebody else property after they improperly built a fence is not a crime in my book.
If it ever comes up say you assumed the fence was on the property line.

It's common for a property owner to build a fence inside his property line for a lot of different reasons. I would not call it improper to do that. They do not conceed ownership or rights to the property by doing so. And you are 100% correct, afaik, that it is not a crime absent any notice not to trespass. Criminal trespass occurs when one has been legally noticed not to enter the property and still does.

In this case I agree with the position already expressed. Knowingly using someone elses property without their permission when it would be easy to ask permission and doing it simply to take advantage of their property for your convenience because they are unaware, is at least not neighborly and at worse a selfish use of someone elses property for your enjoyment simply because you can get away with it.

 

[two_bit_score]

Not trying to claim more land

But, from what you said, the thought did cross your mind.

 

[scootr]

But, from what you said, the thought did cross your mind.

Thinking of sinning and sinning are 2 different things. Still seems silly to approach a neighbor and say hey I'm walking on your land when you are openly doing so with no complaint... but you do you.
I purposely put my fence 6 inches inside the line. If somebody wants to walk on or mow the left out few inches they are welcome to do so.

 

[two_bit_score]

Thinking of sinning and sinning are 2 different things. Still seems silly to approach a neighbor and say hey I'm walking on your land when you are openly doing so with no complaint... but you do you.
I purposely put my fence 6 inches inside the line. If somebody wants to walk on or mow the left out few inches they are welcome to do so.

I agree with another poster that the OP was searching to see if other people here
agreed with him on using the property without permission might somehow accrue to him acquiring some rights or ownership, because that is what he asked about. It's not me doing me it's just the facts.

 

[Peace]

Reading this short thread, I was reminded of this famous quote:

Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “See, Lord, I am [now] giving half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will give back four times as much”.