Your Land is my Land

[mercdv]

I not only reside in the county where most of the film was shot...I live directly on one of the rivers that was used...
I have a speaker hidden in the little pump house I use for watering the garden along the river bank...I keep the banjo music cued up for when we get some paddlers (river rats)...passing by...we get some great reactions...!

[WWfS] (While Waiting for Survey)

FWIW...the pale skinned banjo playing kid in the movie is alive, well and is actually very intelligent...not anything like the character that was depicted...( a friend's son went to school with him)

Also, as long as we're digressing...the old lady "Louise" (RIP) that cooks them all dinner at the end was the matriarch of the Dillard family that runs this place: Dillard House Restaurant | Dillard House Back then the all you could eat breakfast buffet was less than $4 coffee/tea included...it was awesome...!

[/WWfS]

back to on the topic and waiting for the survey...

It is not uncommon here for local surveyors to be requested to place concrete monuments at specified increments along property lines...also the latest survey should be recorded at the local hall of records and attached to the original recorded deed...said concrete monuments should be noted on survey...

Huh...small world. I've probably been by your place a few times and never knew it. Other parts of the movie were shot down near where I live too. I'm sure I most likely was up around your parts when I was in my late teens and early twenties over on that river. The time I spent around your area over there on that river are part of the reason I decided to move into the surrounding area 20 or so years ago. Just really fell in love with the pace of life here.

 

[goeduck]

It is not uncommon here for local surveyors to be requested to place concrete monuments at specified increments along property lines...also the latest survey should be recorded at the local hall of records and attached to the original recorded deed...said concrete monuments should be noted on survey...

GREAT TO SEE THE THREAD REOPENED. THANK YOU...... I have a concrete (section corner?) on one of my properties that I occasionally run over and budge one way or the other. Back in the day the surveyors would always have to reset it. Dang thing is in a field.

 

[Jstpssng]

Have everything ready for the survey visit. Post hole digger on the tractor. (After all this is a tractor forum) Go as deep as you can and pour in a few sacks of concrete. They can even be dry since the concrete will absorb water from around it in the next day or two. Or pour in a bit of concrete and a bit of water and keep going in layers. Then have the surveyor stick his markers into the wet concrete. They could be moved but would take some effort

My brother, who is a retired surveyor for the BLM, dug out around his pins and poured concrete around them at his lake house. The abutter still managed to make one disappear.

 

[Sigarms]

I not only reside in the county where most of the film was shot...I live directly on one of the rivers that was used...
I have a speaker hidden in the little pump house I use for watering the garden along the river bank...I keep the banjo music cued up for when we get some paddlers (river rats)...passing by...we get some great reactions...!

Georgia I assume?

I use to paddle the Chattooga often in my younger years. Funny thing is I use to live in West Virginia, did a LOT of white water kayaking south east in Appalachia, and I didn't see that film until later in my life as I couldn't figure out all the jokes my non paddling friends made who lived outside of WV. I was still in my 30's when people would ask me what I'm doing on my vacation and I'd get kind of blank stares when I told them I was going with a couple of buddies to go paddling out in Idaho or Montana on the rivers LOL

West Virginia got a bad rap from that movie LOL

Back in the 90's when I was hiking the AT, the actual banjo player in the movie (now grown) was working in a restaurant off the trail. STILL hadn't seen the movie at that time.

Off topic, aplogies, but reading while everyone waits for the survey...

 

[RandyT]

All I have to say about "adverse possession" is what you read here, don't believe or take everything as law. It varies by state and has been successfully used many times by people who hire lawyers that know the laws.

Me and my mother did this last year on 70 acres. the property in question was originally my grandmothers. When she passed it was willed to my 4 minor at the time siblings back in 1967. My mother has continued to pay the taxes on the property continuously since that time. One sister passed about 14 years ago but never opened an estate, and brother was served and filed an answer in court but passed before the first court date, and his wife and children never opened his estate. and other family members were causing a stink, so we filed adverse procession and one sister didn't contest the claim, and the other living sister never showed for court after filing a response to the complaint. So we took procession of the entire property by default judgement.

 

[fidowanttobe]

I agree with several of the posts and their ideas. I would obtain a survey, build a fence and hide game cameras to collect irrefutable evidence if he destroyed the fence. Make sure the camera's pictures and/or video are time/date stamped. If the local sheriff won't do anything about it, I would report him as well as the crime to the state level law enforcement and/or district attorney (why have a sheriff that won't enforce the law).

Yup. Good fences/neighbors thing.

 

[Redlands Okie]

My brother, who is a retired surveyor for the BLM, dug out around his pins and poured concrete around them at his lake house. The abutter still managed to make one disappear.

Digging around a pin, pouring concrete is one thing. A hole 3 or 4 feet deep full of concrete will take a bit more work. Time, machinery, noise.

If need be leave the top of your concrete a foot below the surface and a separate pin in the dirt on top. The one on top is disposable. The one a foot down will be out of site from casual observation. Save a trip back for the survey crew.

As others have pointed out once the survey is done and filed then up goes a fence. Does not have to be anything fancy to establish the line and create a property damage issue if / when removed or cut.

The guy next door has had his way for years and probably fully expects to continue to have his way due to the years of the issue being allowed. Apparently he has no shame and is perfectly willing to listen to a few phone call and have a few conversations a year so he can continue to do as he wants. Plus he can blame a subcontractor, the hired hands, or just claim ignorance. It’s going to take some constant persistence on the OP’s part to establish that things have changed and talking time is over.

P.S. a electric fence for stock can be ran as part of your new fence line. There are a variety of sensors that will signal when the line is down or cut. Just install the start of the electric fence and sensor where its easier to see if for some reason checking the fence line daily is to big of a issue.

 

[downslope]

Had this reply ready and was terminated in midst of thread lock-down. Try again>>>

In NYS it is quite difficult to achieve adverse possession, the law was significantly tightened up when Paterson was governor.

Get the survey done. If he is actually encroaching, then hire an attorney. You are in essence asking the neighbor to terminate, abandon and remove a portion of his trellises, posts, vines, and potential crop yields $$ to make room for turning on his own land and staying off of yours. He will need to rebuild the end anchor posts of all trellis rows, so there's money and crop loss involved.

I believe you're in the right and can prevail but it sounds like it will get nasty and expensive with the uncooperative neighbor. I'm afraid you're looking at significant expenses and future aggravation.

If you (and the neighbor) are willing there is a document that can signed and filed with the County Clerk stating that he can continue to drive on the land but never make a claim of possession. It would also state that if the vineyard is ever sold, replanted or trellises rebuilt, then the rows would need to be shortened appropriately.
Sorry you have to deal with this, I have experienced similar in N.Y. Neighbor had to relocate several mature trees that he had planted on my land years ago because I was erecting a deer fence and problem showed on survey.

 

[plowhog]

If you (and the neighbor) are willing there is a document that can signed and filed with the County Clerk stating that he can continue to drive on the land but never make a claim of possession. It would also state that if the vineyard is ever sold, replanted or trellises rebuilt, then the rows would need to be shortened appropriately.

I am not familiar with laws of this State. But if the above is true, it is worth considering. I previously had a property dispute go to litigation and it triggered legal fees in the six figures-- taking nearly 4 years to work out.

Of all the possible approaches suggested, I like: 1) prepare a land lease and present the neighbor with it to better establish a future monetary claim, 2) plant a row of trees along the property line, with trail cameras to keep an eye on them, and 3) the above suggestion.

Q- have you asked the neighbor why he feels entitled to drive on someone else's land? If you knew his reasoning for that it might help shape your response. If he says he has acquired a prescriptive easement-- then your survey results are going to contribute nothing toward the problem.

Good luck and I hope you get your survey back soon!

 

[ultrarunner]

Sonny was a friend of mine at one time. . .it would have been no problem for this to "go away"

Growing up in East Oakland as a kid you learned fast how to avoid trouble...

I know too many people shot... some fatally... some crippled for life.

Looking back... it went done one of three ways for most... die young, go to prison and find Jesus...