Egon
Epic Contributor
Ralph, it sounds like the survey waters are already muddy and need lots of sifting thru the opaque water to find an answere.
Very informative comments. Many will now realize why the waters are muddy.
Surveyor woes- any advice???
- Thread starter Flatheadyoungin
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Ralph, it sounds like the survey waters are already muddy and need lots of sifting thru the opaque water to find an answere.
Very informative comments. Many will now realize why the waters are muddy.
J_J
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Ralph,
Your answers seem very clear about the surveying, and I appreciate the honesty about a subject that so many have doubts.
What would be your answer about if the so called property line that has been assumed and relied on for a number of years, They don't just give land away because of use, do they? For instance, the neighbor is driving down a road beside your fence, but your property line in in the middle of the road that has been made by the neighbor driving down the fence line, does the property from the fence to the original property always belong to the owner of the property being encroached on, or does it somehow get transfered to the one who is using it , say over 10 yrs.
Your answers seem very clear about the surveying, and I appreciate the honesty about a subject that so many have doubts.
What would be your answer about if the so called property line that has been assumed and relied on for a number of years, They don't just give land away because of use, do they? For instance, the neighbor is driving down a road beside your fence, but your property line in in the middle of the road that has been made by the neighbor driving down the fence line, does the property from the fence to the original property always belong to the owner of the property being encroached on, or does it somehow get transfered to the one who is using it , say over 10 yrs.
survriggs
Silver Member
JJ:
I'm going to tell you just like I tell my clients or future clients. I'm not an attorney so my legal advice is worth exactly what it cost you...so here goes!
What you are referring to is adverse possession which is often misunderstood. It is based on the Doctrine of Laches "Equity aids the vigilant, not the negligent (that is, those who sleep on their rights)." "Plainly stated, this means the law does not reward a person who neglects to enforce his property rights by allowing him to claim the fruit of another person's labor at a later time."
To your question: If you allow your neighbor to drive on your property, mow your property, cut hay off of your property, run cattle on your property and you don't care enough to assert claim to your land, then yes you can lose title to that land. It's not as easy as some think. It is not automatic. It has to be determined in court. A judge will determine if the possession is actual, notorious, exclusive, continuous, hostile and open for the statutory period. And this varies by state.
The statements in quotes are directly from Wikipedia.
Ralph R.
MarkV
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As Ralph said adverse possession is often miss understood and much harder to do than many seem to think it is. In many states you may be running your fencing and cattle on some ones property for years but if you are not paying the taxes on that property you will never win in court.
MarkV
MarkV
riptides
Super Star Member
Bingo, and it only matters as long as you live.
CurlyDave
Elite Member
When we bought our property, I didn't want a survey, and I made sure no one did a survey.
I wanted it to build a house on. We had 39.6 acres of sloped land with lots of trees, most scrub, some nice ones. Uphill from us we have a 1/4 mile long boundary with BLM land.
Now we needed 40 acres to build a house, and the country said 39.6 was "good enough" so we got our permit and built.
Now I had heard rumors that the old survey was somehow off, and there wasn't really as much acreage as claimed. While it would have been nice to know the exact boundaries, I kept thinking: "Why should I pay someone thousands of $ to get an answer which might be really bad?" I am pretty sure that if I proved I only had 35 acres, I couldn't have built the house and would have had a big lawsuit with the seller. All I really needed was a deed which said I owned enough land to build and I already had that.
Someday in the future, if the laws ever change and I can carve off 5 acres and sell it for a homesite, I will get a survey.
Right now, I am pretty certain that one neighbor has encroached about 3 or 4 feet with a 40' section of seldom-used dirt road. He is a pretty good guy, and why would I want to get into an expensive dispute over 400 square feet when I own millions of square feet? We trade tools, implements, work, and good times. I have hunted with him and his friends for the past 4 years, and they are now my friends too.
There is a lot more to country living than exerting control over every square inch of your land. In the city, where your lot might be 6000 square feet, a few hundred of those is enough to get excited over. 40 acres is 1,742,400 square feet. If someone takes a few hundred off, does it really matter?
I wanted it to build a house on. We had 39.6 acres of sloped land with lots of trees, most scrub, some nice ones. Uphill from us we have a 1/4 mile long boundary with BLM land.
Now we needed 40 acres to build a house, and the country said 39.6 was "good enough" so we got our permit and built.
Now I had heard rumors that the old survey was somehow off, and there wasn't really as much acreage as claimed. While it would have been nice to know the exact boundaries, I kept thinking: "Why should I pay someone thousands of $ to get an answer which might be really bad?" I am pretty sure that if I proved I only had 35 acres, I couldn't have built the house and would have had a big lawsuit with the seller. All I really needed was a deed which said I owned enough land to build and I already had that.
Someday in the future, if the laws ever change and I can carve off 5 acres and sell it for a homesite, I will get a survey.
Right now, I am pretty certain that one neighbor has encroached about 3 or 4 feet with a 40' section of seldom-used dirt road. He is a pretty good guy, and why would I want to get into an expensive dispute over 400 square feet when I own millions of square feet? We trade tools, implements, work, and good times. I have hunted with him and his friends for the past 4 years, and they are now my friends too.
There is a lot more to country living than exerting control over every square inch of your land. In the city, where your lot might be 6000 square feet, a few hundred of those is enough to get excited over. 40 acres is 1,742,400 square feet. If someone takes a few hundred off, does it really matter?
ultrarunner
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CurlyDave... I've come to know you as a very wise man in deed and philosophically
OP
Flatheadyoungin
Veteran Member
Hey, he just called me.....apologized....said he had been working out to "the plant" which is our neuclear enrichment plant (much more $$ than me, i'm sure)....
he said they have been out to the property (i haven't been out for about 3-4 weeks) and that they should finish this monday and he'd get with me on it....
cool.....i need to get out there and take a look at it....
he said they have been out to the property (i haven't been out for about 3-4 weeks) and that they should finish this monday and he'd get with me on it....
cool.....i need to get out there and take a look at it....
J_J
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Be sure and take your camera and document all the ref points to your survey. You might even put a half cement block around those pins, and paint accordingly. If you have a GPS, you can get a rough coordinates on any pin/marker. Even the better GPS will sit in a spot for a while to give the units a look at more satellites.
OP
Flatheadyoungin
Veteran Member
the half block is a good idea....i like the gps too....i've thought about it.....just didn't know how accurate it would be....i guess if the pin gets "removed" then close is better than nothing, huh?
i like the block idea....i would like to put a metal fencepost or 5/8 rebar about 6" back on my side from their pin....sticking about 4' above the ground and painted orange every year.....
there's only one neighbor that i forsee problems with.....what i'm trying to help prevent are problems when/if my current neighbors move...i have 12 neighbors adjoining my property...anywhere from 100' to 1600'.....
i like the block idea....i would like to put a metal fencepost or 5/8 rebar about 6" back on my side from their pin....sticking about 4' above the ground and painted orange every year.....
there's only one neighbor that i forsee problems with.....what i'm trying to help prevent are problems when/if my current neighbors move...i have 12 neighbors adjoining my property...anywhere from 100' to 1600'.....
