Neighbor use of my land Question

[PhilNH5]

Folks,
I have 2 camps on a small pond (Tickle Naked Pond - I just love that name) in Vermont. I bought 5 very small lots from the same seller. Two have camps and the other 3 are all wooded. All told it is just over one acre.
We use bottled drinking water and draw water from the pond for the shower, sinks and toilet. When we purchased it last summer the seller was allowing an abutter to run pipe over the property to get to the pond. The abutter also has a small pump on the property. The abutter asked me if we could continue this arrangement. I said sure. This guy is quite nice and we have spoke many times over the course of the summer.

This year I go up and there is a 6x6 ft pumphouse surrounding the pump - on my property. last year it just sat on blocks in the woods and you couldn't even see it. Now it is definitely noticable.
What I really don't like is that he never asked me. And now I have to worry about squatters rights. If I allow this to continue can he lay claim to that piece of property? I hate the thoughts of having to spend $ on a lawyer but I certainly don't want to let this slide if he can lay claim somewhere down the rode.

I have not seen him up there yet and at this point I am not sure what I would say.

any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Phil
I dodn't like that

 

[Chief]

I would end that arrangement immediately. That fact that he did not ask you permission prior to building the pump house should tell you that this situation has nowhere to go but down hill, especailly in the event of a drought. I share my well with a neighbor, it was part of the purchase agreeement for my farm but for only as long as they live there. Can't wait for them to move the next occupants will be hooking up to city water. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Amen Chief! I couldn't agree more. Now how to go about it without causing hard feelings may be another issue. Ticklish even. Smile.

Tell him he needs to move it becuase you're going to install something in that spot, whatever you can think of. Tell him not right away, give a couple of months maybe leeway? Need to remind him that that is your property.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

That's a tough call. Alienating a neighbor can have negative repercussions for years to come. I would guess that he added the pump house merely to protect the pump equipment and spent the money to do that only after he got the impression from you that his would be a permanent ongoing situation. It sounds like a classic misunderstanding.

He was thinking if you didn't want to continue the relationship, he'd remove the stuff before he spent any more money. Once he believed he had your permission to continue the relationship, then and only then did he take steps to protect his equipment.

If your concern is merely a 'squatter's rights' kind of thing, draw up or have drawn up a lease giving him rights to whatever and charge him some nominal fee like one dollar a year. That way there's no misunderstandings as to who the rightful owner is.

I don't know the layout so this might not work, but could you possibly ask him to move the pump to his property and still allow him to have the right to run the pipe through yours? Another possible solution is to see if he could lower the profile of the shelter so as to not have it quite so obtrusively in your view.

Personally, I'd try about anything before creating a situation where I alienated a neighbor if I planned on staying for any length of time.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I hope this helps. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Sounds like your are worried about "Adverse Possession." I believe that for him to have any rights under that, the possession must be "open and hostile." In other word he did it without hiding it AND he DID NOT have permission.

It sounds like he had permission, which you can withdraw, so you may be OK.

But, and I can't emphasize this enough, talk to a lawyer now. Buy an hours time. It will be cheap insurance. Make sure you talk to an attorney with real estate experience, and if possible, water rights experience.

We just went through something vagely like your situation. We called a real estate attorney who told us over the phone how to handle it. He told us to write a formal letter to the other party and give them a week to get out. We did that; they got out. The lawyer didn't even charge us for the call. He just said, "If they don't get out, call me back and we'll take them to court."

Again, it is important to call a lawyer, no matter how reluctant you are. I suspect others will give you the same advice.

SnowRidge

 

[rancar]

I'd agree with the others here. Terminate this arrangement, if possible. Talk to him and let him know you did not agree to this installation of a pump house. If it is so unsightly that it mars aesthetics of the property, I'd think you are within your rights to ask him to remove it. It could also be problematic in that your neighbor may in time be claiming water rights to a water source he doesn't own. If he declines to remove the pump house, consult with an attorney who has experience in easements and land use matters. If you want to save the legal fees and are willing to take matters into your own hands, tear it down yourself.

...Bob

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color="blue">( If you want to save the legal fees and are willing to take matters into your own hands, tear it down yourself. )</font>

That sounds like awful advice. If the man has permission, or reasonably believed he did, it could open the floodgate to all sorts of legal troubles. That is just the sort of chest thumping well meaning advice we got from friends here. We chose to carefully stick to the letter of the law. It served us well.

Talk to an attorney. Find out what your legal rights and obligations are.

SnowRidge

 

[hillslider]

WELL I HAVE READ ALL THE RESPONSE YOU HAVE REC. I CAN SAY I AM DISAPOINTED THAT NO ONE SAID "JUST TRY THE TRUTH". YOU DO NOT LIKE THE PUMP HOUSE. GO TO THE MAN AND JUST COME TO ANOTHER AGREEMENT. DONT BLOW UP AT HIM.....TALK IT OUT. YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED. MOST PEOPLE TODAY ARE NOT OUT TO SCREW YOU. IF HE GETS ALL BENT UP ABOUT IT THEN GO CHECK OUT WHAT THE LAW SAYS. I HAVE HAD SIMILAR THINGS HAPPEN AND I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO CURE THEM . BE NICE TO NEIGHBORS AND THEY WILL RETURN THE FAVOR. IF YOU JUMP THE GUN AND USE FORCE......WELCOME HATFIELD AND McCOY!!!!!!!

 

[Anonymous Poster]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Sounds like your are worried about "Adverse Possession." I believe that for him to have any rights under that, the possession must be "open and hostile." In other word he did it without hiding it AND he DID NOT have permission.)</font>

That sums it up in a nutshell. While the law varies from state to state, in general for an adverse possession ("squatters rights") claim to fly, the occupation must be adverse, open, and continuous for the period required by law. The key here is "adverse."

If you have an agreement, it's not adverse. The idea of leasing him the land is a good one, as it defines his rights and obligations.

Assuming you want to go this way, you'd want to grant a temporary easement, renewable from year to year, to construct and maintain the pumphouse and pipeline. If that access also gives him the right to cast flies onto your lake or pick strawberries, then spell that out, too. Ideally, the locatoion should be specified, but you'd need a plat of survey to do that, and that's probably overkill.

You might discuss this with an attorney. The first visit is usually free.

One good reason to codify this, is that these sorts of arrangements often survive the original parties. If he carks and his children take over the property, you want to have a basis for not having a dispute.

IMX, the real value of a contract is that people want to follow it.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Hillslider,

First, it's difficult to read a post done in ALL CAPS like yours. It also indicates YELLING or emphasis. I'm sure you didn't mean to yell at us and emphasizing everything equally emphasizes nothing. I might suggest you consider a more standard format for posts as they will be much easier to read. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Second, I believe if you re-read my post you'll find that I did emphasize a low key approach which included an idea on moving the pump and pump house of lowering the profile so that it would not be as obtrusive. The last thing I would ever want to do would be alienate a neighbor or suggest anything that would have anyone else do that, either.

I am very much in favor of seeking legal advice on this if only to make certain that rights of ownership are completely protected but I also emphasize that I think this should be handled in an amiable manner if at all possible.