Neighbor thinks he owns my land?

[Soundguy]

in my area, someone boult a bit of his drive encroaching on a neighbors edge of land.. it wasn't caught, and now the guy with the drive has use of the other guys land.

terrible deal...

 

[blueriver]

This is interesting ... just yesterday on the ground I just leased the bordering neighbor who has had it years is clearing the fenceline to rebuilt it as agreed between him and the landowner ... I stated I believe your not on the line and was told that old fence never was right and this is where it needs to be. I asked how he determined that and was told he used a 100' tape from the other side of his property and measured the 600 and some feet with the tape ... threw the creek, over the hills etc ... I stopped by the land owner and talked it over and he says we'll just leave it he's a good neighbor ... I fiqured he's about 70' over and by a half a mile the landowner just lost about 5 acres.

 

[caver]

Feather Approach
This discussion reminded me of something that happened to me and some friends.
Back in the 90's I spent my weekends cave exploring with fellow cavers in Missouri. We had permission to camp on this guys land where there was an old homestead. Unbeknown to us the property had been sold. We decided to meet up and camp there late one afternoon. A farmer shows up and asks us what we are doing. We find out the property had been sold and apologized for trespassing. He said he didn't care if we camped there but would like us to let him know in the future. He gave his phone number to my buddy. The farmer has since cleaned up the area and camps there himself. Often we are camping there with him and his relatives.

 

[lockhaven]

I do not know about Florida, but here in order for a drive way must be in continuous use for I think 20 years before it is considered legal right of way. The reason is most old surveys are not accurate. My great aunt and uncle had paid taxes on 3 acres of land that did not exist, it was discovered while we were settling their estate. My own driveway cuts a corner over a neighbors property. This was caused because of an inaccurate survey in 1914, all the properties were shifted 10 feet from where they are supposed to be. My neighbors driveway cuts across a strip on my property. All is legal because of the amount of time they have been in use. Because we did not want any future problems with anyone buying property and causing a ruckus we had an attorney draw up a property agreement giving each property use of the existing driveways.

 

[bdeboer]

I would also put in good quaility corner posts even if you do not want to build a fence. This may save you from having to do the survey again.

 

[mad_planter]

I bought this section a couple years ago. It boarders our farm and was origonally part of our farm back when my grandfather bought it. I was fortunate enough to buy it back from who my grandmother sold it to.


Adverse possession is not really very easy in Pa. Just using your land for x number of years isn't going to cut it. (I bought 67 acres about 5 years ago and discussed all this with my lawyer). Also, in Pa. at least, They passed a law a few years ago to protect the landowner from liability from someone using your land for recreation. (again, same discussion with lawyer) Now that won't protect you from doing something stupid, like stringing a strand of barbed wire across a 4 wheeler trail, but it does over protection..

 

[forgeblast]

When you use google and search for adverse possession in pa you get one of the major court cases which is interesting to read.

Survey is the right idea, fencing would be the next. You could put in some temporary fencing like jack-leg and put it right next to the property line, since its movable you dont have to worry about the setback.
I think with the temp. nature of the tree stand and fire ring etc its not considered adverse since its moveable.

I think someone else mentioned a coffee can filled with nails and concrete sunk at the corners so you could find the corners even if the rebar was gone.

And as a teacher I would not go over there without other people. Its an easy way to lose your job, or be bad mouthed in the community. Its a different standard that you are held to.
Best of luck.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I bought "one acre" in front of my house. The seller's brother had later purchased the property ajoining it.

It was clear prior sellers had agreed on property lines not remotely correct.

Since they were family and the brother bought last he was understanding. We came to an agreement and I paid for the survey when a third party sold that the two of us joined at some point.

Thanks to a quit claim deed all three parties now have clear deeds for the future heirs from the same engineer and on the same "recorded" plat. Prior to this there were NO clear legal gounds for any of us to claim.

In fact the third party seller and I shuffled our lines so I did not have a useless property corner 100 foot from her cabin in the woods that she was selling. I set down with her and the surveying company and we shifted to more logical looking boundries keeping square footage equal. The new owner (bought off of new survey) and I came out with more functional lines and ones that will stand up in court. The long term neigbor did not loss any land from when he initially purchased long ago but got a bit of money and a clear and legal deed.

A few dollars spend making good neighbors is cheaper than getting shot like in one case I know about.

 

[brin]

Just to relate my experience with ADVERSE POSSESSION laws, at least in Georgia. MY neighbor at the farm had his fence up adjoining his neighbors property for over 50 yrs. and the property was sold , the new owner had a survey done and it revealed that my neighbors fence was encroaching on his property some 50 feet by over 1,000 ft. ~ That meant my neighbor was going to lose 50 ft. of road frontage , lose an acre or more of land and have to tear down and replace his fence....so my neighbor sued for Adverse Possession...Long story short...it went on in the court for 3 yrs., cost my neighbor a bunch and he lost .....His new neighbor tore down his fence and left open so my neighbor had to buy all new fence ...His lawyer told him it was almost impossible to take land by Adverse possession...Maybe it is different states and even if different cases in Ga. but that is what happened in this case.. I was even a witness for my neighbor to verify his fence had been there for 50 yrs.and he had maintained the property all that time...made no difference..

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Just to relate my experience with ADVERSE POSSESSION laws, at least in Georgia. MY neighbor at the farm had his fence up adjoining his neighbors property for over 50 yrs. and the property was sold , the new owner had a survey done and it revealed that my neighbors fence was encroaching on his property some 50 feet by over 1,000 ft. ~ That meant my neighbor was going to lose 50 ft. of road frontage , lose an acre or more of land and have to tear down and replace his fence....so my neighbor sued for Adverse Possession...Long story short...it went on in the court for 3 yrs., cost my neighbor a bunch and he lost .....His new neighbor tore down his fence and left open so my neighbor had to buy all new fence ...His lawyer told him it was almost impossible to take land by Adverse possession...Maybe it is different states and even if different cases in Ga. but that is what happened in this case.. I was even a witness for my neighbor to verify his fence had been there for 50 yrs.and he had maintained the property all that time...made no difference..

This a good example why we need to know our property lines are and not assume where they are based on rumors. Reminds me of one small wild card I have left where a ditch is the assumed line on a lot I picked up as a buffer zone when it came up for sale.