Neighbor removed my property line pin

[Reyer Farms]

State laws will spell this out but a good lawyer will be invaluable to help. I think your efforts of survey and creating a visible line and talking with adjoining owner will stop any adverse possession situation. As I understand it happens when both parties "agree"to a boundary over time (7 years ???). Even if one is unaware of his concession. You seem very aware. If your trees start moving and their cutting your grass things are going bad. I see the moving of a pin as childish and displays weak character.
The best land man I know told me to never do a land deal with a guy you don't trust on a handshake, and then get a survey and a lawyer.
I hope it works out.

 

[Fossil Farm]

At some point in time, you or your neighbor will sell. If your neighbor would sell first, it would be good to have a property pin in place so that the buyer would know ahead of time where the line is really located. It would make it much easier from the start rather than the new owner thinking he may own more than he does. If it is not too expensive, as many others have said, replace the pin and do what you can legally to secure its position.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Most of those deed read "plus or minus".I was taught that up here that translated to roughly 10%.

Hers wasn't a plus or minus issue. There was an actual mistake made with the original survey filed years ago. I don't know the proper terms to repeat what the lawyer said accurately but basically the survey filed was inaccurate. I will try and remember to ask her to see if she remembers the exact issue (her memory is better than mine).

 

[dmccarty]

Pipes used to be widely used but rebar with plastic caps are becoming the norm. The caps give the Surveyors License # and abreviated name. Many original survey corners were marked with stones, pits, blazed trees, charred wooden stakes, and almost anything imaginable. Modern plats normally state what is marking the corner, ie: 5/8 rebar found.

Here, the pipes have yellow caps. I had the surveyors redo a property line with a neighbor, for the usual reasons, as well as another line. They ended up moving a handful of pins. They drove in new pins all of which were pipe, around a half inch in diameter. A section of land abutting us was subdivided a few years back and it was all done with the same kind of pipe. No rebar, all pipes, though it would seem that rebar would be much easier to drive into the ground. Our plat references a concrete marker about 1/4 mile away.

When we were looking to buy land we were not having much luck. I was going to the county GIS office, looking at maps, and then researching deeds to make a list of possible properties to buy. The place we now own popped up on the market and we were able to buy it. Reading the deeds was very interesting. So many properties were marked by an oak tree on the river, or a rock in the so and so road. :laughing::laughing::laughing: One property we looked at buying was subdivided in the 30's. The drawing stunk. :laughing: I did better work in my 9th grade drafting glass but that plot was a legal document. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[dodge man]

Acreage is normally figured as if the property was flat, as far as I know, its never caclulated taking into account the hills and slopes. As far as acreage being different, this will vary by region. In my area, which was surveyed by the government and broken into sections of ground (640 acres), the land areas tend to be larger. For example, say you bought a 1/4 section of ground, the nominal acreage would be 160 acres, but it would be common that the actual acreage would be in the 163 acres range. A lot of these questions on why acreage is different will often be a regional thing and could be due to many reasons.

 

[sdkubota]

Here, the pipes have yellow caps. I had the surveyors redo a property line with a neighbor, for the usual reasons, as well as another line. They ended up moving a handful of pins. They drove in new pins all of which were pipe, around a half inch in diameter. A section of land abutting us was subdivided a few years back and it was all done with the same kind of pipe. No rebar, all pipes, though it would seem that rebar would be much easier to drive into the ground. Our plat references a concrete marker about 1/4 mile away.

When we were looking to buy land we were not having much luck. I was going to the county GIS office, looking at maps, and then researching deeds to make a list of possible properties to buy. The place we now own popped up on the market and we were able to buy it. Reading the deeds was very interesting. So many properties were marked by an oak tree on the river, or a rock in the so and so road. :laughing::laughing::laughing: One property we looked at buying was subdivided in the 30's. The drawing stunk. :laughing: I did better work in my 9th grade drafting glass but that plot was a legal document. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

Some states allow property descriptions by "Meets and Bounds" but not mine. The plat would reference trees, streams, stumps, rocks, etc.

 

[riptides]

Some states allow property descriptions by "Meets and Bounds" but not mine. The plat would reference trees, streams, stumps, rocks, etc.

yeah, my property has plats back to the late 1800's that call out trees and stones. The major issue is the poor survey work done over the years that contradicte each other. As luck would have it, a stone pillar, called out by "meets and bounds" is more accurate than a 1970's survey. Even a lawyer could not figure out what the surveyor was looking at.

 

[sdkubota]

yeah, my property has plats back to the late 1800's that call out trees and stones. The major issue is the poor survey work done over the years that contradicte each other. As luck would have it, a stone pillar, called out by "meets and bounds" is more accurate than a 1970's survey. Even a lawyer could not figure out what the surveyor was looking at.

Given the equipment that was available when most of the initial surveys were done...it is nothing short of amazing the accuracy they were able to achieve. Many/most section corners are within an inch or inches of where the corner could be established today using satellites. The early surveyors were incredible on what they accomplished and I would hold them up with early astronauts at what they accomplished. That said...they are an owly bunch!

 

[Jstpssng]

Acreage is normally figured as if the property was flat, as far as I know, its never caclulated taking into account the hills and slopes. As far as acreage being different, this will vary by region. In my area, which was surveyed by the government and broken into sections of ground (640 acres), the land areas tend to be larger. For example, say you bought a 1/4 section of ground, the nominal acreage would be 160 acres, but it would be common that the actual acreage would be in the 163 acres range. A lot of these questions on why acreage is different will often be a regional thing and could be due to many reasons.

I had to read this twice. You might want to clarify that although acreage doesn't take ground variations into account; any survey work you do does, and is corrected for slope.

Here, the pipes have yellow caps. I had the surveyors redo a property line with a neighbor, for the usual reasons, as well as another line. They ended up moving a handful of pins. They drove in new pins all of which were pipe, around a half inch in diameter. A section of land abutting us was subdivided a few years back and it was all done with the same kind of pipe. No rebar, all pipes, though it would seem that rebar would be much easier to drive into the ground. Our plat references a concrete marker about 1/4 mile away.

When we were looking to buy land we were not having much luck. I was going to the county GIS office, looking at maps, and then researching deeds to make a list of possible properties to buy. The place we now own popped up on the market and we were able to buy it. Reading the deeds was very interesting. So many properties were marked by an oak tree on the river, or a rock in the so and so road. :laughing::laughing::laughing: One property we looked at buying was subdivided in the 30's. The drawing stunk. :laughing: I did better work in my 9th grade drafting glass but that plot was a legal document. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

Those yellow caps provide a great place for rabbits, squirrels, and porcupines to chew on.

Reading those old deeds can be interesting. My favorite reads; "thence in a westerly direction to the ace where the old cow lies down in the afternoon."

Keep in mind that back then bare land value was little or nothing; the value was in timber, water, grazing ground, etc.

 

[dmccarty]

My girlfriend just bought a new house. It was advertised as 38 acres, property was listed with the county as 38 acres, all 38 acres were taxed as well. When they did the paperwork to close the deal they found a problem and in fact the property is actually only 35 acres. Somehow a long time ago someone made a mistake and that mistake added 3 acres to the property that never existed.

We have quite a bit of road frontage, we own to the middle of the road, and we own the land on both sides of the road. Our surveys tell us we own X acres. For tax purposes we own X-road size. The county is not taxing us on the road frontage... Now that I state that fact, it makes me nervous...

Later,
Dan