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1. The easement usually has a width associated with it, so the stones may be on the easement, they may not be.
2. Get things staked. It might be they are thinking of selling and don't want to have any boundary disputes happening as part of the sale.
re 1: How do I even find out if there's an easement? Would it be on my title or theirs? Or in town records?
re 2: They are thinking of selling and the wife is panicking. She says the husband "thinks he'll live to be 304," their house needs work and they have limited resources and support system. I think she's trying to exert what little control she has in her life.
Now, I've lived in the house for 22 years. For this entire period I've been cutting this "shared" front lawn the whole time with the neighbor's permission. He told me about the property line as soon as I moved in but was happy for me to take care of it. In fact, I've been cutting the grass on the other side of the dirt road too (only about 5 ft wide). This was never a problem.
Didn't you get a title search and a copy of the platt map when you bought your property? Surely you didn't just take neighbor A's word for it that he owned the strip of land. Actually, from the way you describe it, it would make more sense that the strip belonged to you and neighbor A had an easment to drive to his lot.
Since it appears Mrs A is trying to start trouble, you need to get the records and find out for certain who owns what, and who has an easment. If they own it, you should talk to a local realtor to get comps for the current sq ft value of unbuildable land in your area (unbuildable due to the driveway easements). Then talk to Mr A and make him an offer. They'd be foolish not to sell. They get some cash, the continued use of the drive, and no responsibility to mow.
edit after reading your new post above:
If they need money to fix up their place, you can use that fact to convince them to sell you the strip.
A Didn't you get a title search and a copy of the platt map when you bought your property? Surely you didn't just take neighbor A's word for it that he owned the strip of land. Actually, from the way you describe it, it would make more sense that the strip belonged to you and neighbor A had an easment to drive to his lot.
B Since it appears Mrs A is trying to start trouble, you need to get the records and find out for certain who owns what, and who has an easment. If they own it, you should talk to a local realtor to get comps for the current sq ft value of unbuildable land in your area (unbuildable due to the driveway easements). Then talk to Mr A and make him an offer. They'd be foolish not to sell. They get some cash, the continued use of the drive, and no responsibility to mow.
C edit after reading your new post above:
If they need money to fix up their place, you can use that fact to convince them to sell you the strip.
A: For sure! I just can't put my hands on it, need to look harder. But town records do indicate that he owns the strip. From the layout of the land question it makes more sense for me to own it, no doubt about it.
B & C: This occurred to me too. I'm going to look at that too.
New question: If I did buy it from them and respective neighbors now has easements from me, am I obligated to maintain or plow the dirt road?
It's really pretty simple. Look at your deed, look at their deed. It will have the description of your easement and what you're allowed to do. Most easements say you can access your property, run utilities, etc. You do not gain legal ownership by mowing a lawn for 22 years. Don't be silly.
I have a feeling it will say nothing about landscaping or rocks, so if the wife doesn't like them, she can pull them. You don't want this to turn into a lawsuit. You will both spend a ton of money on legal fees and gain nothing. Try to work something out.
But considering their age.......and I'll bet the wife isn't really cranky.. but displaying some mild dementia.........their selling could be in the offing.
Sadly, I agree with this. The same thing happened to my grandma about 10 years before she died. It progressed to no longer having a concept of money and time (she claimed to have paid at least $200,000, maybe $250,000 for her 4 door '91 Cutlass).
Something apparently changed in the circumstances of Neighbor A. Obviously. It may be as simple as the husband just wants to kick back and relax anymore. And the wife has been in a sense given charge of taking care of things. It could be either or both has failing health. Relaxing or anger can indicate an issue in oneself or a reaction to the health of the other one of the couple.
It may be, as Silverfall suggested, they are then thinking of selling. Perhaps they've already been approached by someone who knows their circumstance, perhaps even by their children or grandchildren. They may have been encouraged to move closer to other family members or to at least sell the home.
We have wide lawns here and there in our neighborhood that can blend unexpectedly into the next door neighbor's. (Nature and no fences) We have found ourselves putting in surveyor's stakes recently on one side because the nice man we shared surveyor expenses with many years ago when FEMA put a scare in us all...now has anger after a stroke. He is now questioning his boundaries and property lines became an issue for him. So we staked.
On the other side, the man's wife was very ill for a couple of years. During that time he began to mow further and further into our lawn. He also turned his riding mower around in a big circle into our lawn...so mowing is not straight, just a giant curve mowed into our lawn. Until recently we mowed and fertilized and cared for the lawns all the way to his driveway. The whole things looked very nice. Now he's doing his mowing dance so we have left off his few feet of lawn but there are weeds destroying our lawn now. And recently he had other vehicles putting ruts in our lawn. An issue we'll have to deal with.
A survey is an excellent idea. Can't hurt to get a new one and can be a GREAT benefit. For one thing, it is third party action. Someone else (municipality and surveyor) makes the decisions. Fewer insults taken that way.
DO pay to have good metal stakes put in and don't lose them in the brush. Paint them fluorescent orange or whatever; if the surveyor doesn't use bright plastic ribbons, you do. They are easily put off and then forgotten and lost until you need to find them.
The easement will (should) be indicated on your plat map that you will also make sure the surveyor provides. It should note any utility and DOT easements as well.
Keep calm about this when talking with the wife. Just continue to point to the spots on the map and the marked stakes in your yard and say, "Yeah, here's where the town/county says my lot ends..." The psychology of not saying "here's where your lot (rights) ends".
Adverse Possession is open, exclusive, continuous and under claim of right. And is connected with statute of limitations. Let me quote something that says well the importance of the differing terms of limitations by jurisdiction. You need to find our your area's term of limitations:
" Each jurisdiction decides how long a property owner has, after a wrongful possessor enters his or her property, to bring an action to evict the wrongful possessor. (Periods of adverse possession usually range from 5 to 21 years, depending on the jurisdiction.) If a wrongful possessor enters a property, and the true owner fails to take legal action against the wrongful possessor within the prescribed period of time, then the possessor actually gains title to the property. Once this happens, the possessor, though he or she had no legal right to enter the property, gains full and exclusive possession and ownership of the property in fee simple absolute. The original “true” owner’s right to the property is permanently extinguished."
I should add, if you don't already know the elderly couple's relatives, very soon you should find out where their closest family lives and a name or two. Just in case it gets too much. Better safe than sorry. In fact, a visit to their home with a mum and a pumpkin could tell you a lot about the condition of their current life.
Do get these lose ends tied up.
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