Protecting Property Lines

[kbarrett]

I was cruising the property the other day (border patrol) and recognized these little 6" high green flags all over that said RAIN BIRD on them.

It didn're really faze me until I saw the same flags at the business I work at and noticed that it marked a sprinkler head.

Hmmmm.... I went back to my property and noticed that the flags were clearly about 10 feet over the line on my property. Though, no sprinkler heads yet....

I really didn't think much of it, until I mentioned this to my father. Hey, if the neighbor wants to water my field grass and weeds that's fine. Hey said, no it's not and suggested that I pluck those little flags out ASAP. He said that if a property is maintained by an adjacent property owner for an extended time it might be subject to adverse possession. Hmmmm....

So, this afternoon at lunch I removed all the little flags marking future irrigation heads and also painted the pipe that marks the line in a bright yellow color.

I'm a little perplexed about this. I had a conversation with this neighbor last year and point blank asked him "Do you know where the property line is?" He said that he did and I thought all was well. Needless to say, I'll be diligently performing border patrol duty with the mower this year.

Any of you have similar situations come up?

 

[TerryinMD]

There have been many a good post covering this subject and most have appeared under this topic. Do a search under adverse possession and I bet you'll get a few hits.

Terry

 

[gws]

Your neighbor may know where the line is but apparently the guys putting in the pipes dont.

I never could see the purpose to ever water grass. Seems to me to be a big waste. My yard is as natural looking as it can be. Green in the spring, brown in the summer, and white in the winter. What more could you want.

 

[kbarrett]

Thanks... There is quite a bit.

 

[mdbarb]

I am knee deep in this kind of problem right now.
In California, the lawyers tell me he cannot get your property thru adverse posseion unless he has been paying taxex on it. He can get prescriptive easement rights if he has beeen using it in an open and notorious manner for five continious years.
Be ever vigilant with the border guard and set your neighbor straight (officially) right away!
Good Luck

 

[heehaw]

i have a friend that has a pretty good size farm here in Arkansas, the farm next door was for sale, he got a letter from a lawyer, asking if he had any claim on the land adjacent to him. of course his reply was no, and he and his wife signed the paper and returned it to the lawyer.. then later he got anther letter from the lawyer, according to the survey the fence was over the property line, and he had 6 months to move it, at the end of 6 months the fence would be dozed down and the new owners did not want his cattle on their property. guess what he's doing now..building a lot of fence. the fence had been there for over 30 years, but since he said he had no claim to the land, he gave up any adverse possession etc etc..and now has to build a new fence.
heehaw

 

[beenthere]

Rather than wait until you can mow along your property line, how about putting in your own stakes and some tape, string, rope or wire along the line. This might avoid any paid crew showing up with ditch diggers and pipe, laying in a bunch of stuff thinking they are on the right property. If your neighbor asks, then an explanation of the newly found markers on your side would be easy to discuss. I wouldn't want to escalate any differences with any neighbor if it can easily be avoided. Friendly neighbors are great assests in so many ways.

 

[kbarrett]

Yeah, he's a pretty good guy and I'm interested in keeping peace, but at the same time being clear. I did make a call to a surveyor this afternoon regarding the re-marking of the borders of my property etc. Essentially, being clear with new markers where his poperty ends.

My father thought that a crew showing up with all their equipment in a very visible way, might help communicate my point.

 

[MarkV]

My father-in –law is a firm believer that “Good fences make good neighbors”. Makes a lot of sense to me.

MarkV

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color=blue>...but since he said he had no claim to the land...</font color=blue>

Rick... Your friend and his wife indicated "outside" the fenced area was not his...

<font color=blue>...the fence had been there for over 30 years...</font color=blue>

...if your friend had openly, maintained, mowed, repaired... etc. etc. the fenced in area for the past thirty years... he may very well have an excellent claim of adverse possession without realizing it... /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif