Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's 2015. Many honest preachers and pastors have income streams unrelated to their church. I know many pastors that have real estate, just like the guy in the story. Doesn't it make sense to have other ways to earn passive income so that the church's money isn't needed?
Another common source of personal income is authorship and writing books.
Yea, I know of a couple of pastors that have real estate as well. One of them had his 30 or so rentals donated to the church when they passed on. I was doing the lock work on these rentals when people would move out. Nice income for that guy though. Another pastor and his wife that were local to the area were in the news a few years ago. They were running an investment company along with their church. Many of their flock were fleeced. A few older people signed over properties to them. I noticed that they were living the high life as well. Yup that religion stuff is where the money is. LOL
Customary and traditional use goes a very long way in court.
Right. Depending on how long the 25 year homeowner used that land as his own without permission of the property owner(s) of the adjacent estate, the land may very well likely have been adversely possessed.
The requirements for adverse possession in Florida are very strict.
One of the requirements is that the person must either have some sort of title on which to base claim of title or the person must have paid property taxes on the land claimed to be adversely possessed.
While I sympathize with the senior citizen, I wouldn't be so quick to assume that he automatically owns the land where a concrete driveway may have erroneously been poured.
It's not as if he doesn't have sufficient property of his own to realign his driveway correctly, when & if a new survey proves encroachment.
When we had our house built we paid for the builder's surveyor to mark the property lines. Little cement markers in all 4 corners.
Over the years one of our neighbors put in a sprinkler system and then an invisible fence. We asked them to move both in a few feet as they were clearly on our property and we were thinking of selling & didn't want any "issues" with future buyers. They were fine with it & understood that something like that could hold up a sale….and it was easier to have done immediately (meaning while the work was still being done) than 6 months down the road or longer.
We ended up deciding not to sell, but we did put a small addition on last summer. What we found out when we had a survey done by a company we hired is that our fence is on THEIR property, so is a few feet of our shed & part of our driveway (that we expanded just a few feet at the very top). Those cement markers? They had something to do with building the street. The builder's surveyor never put in the markers we paid for.
Absolutely horrified that we had asked them to move their sprinkler lines & invisible fence & that we had been on their property all of these years.
First thing we did was call our lawyer to ask what trouble, if any, we would be in. He suggested we make an offer to buy the square footage (by figuring out what a square foot was worth based on property taxes) or wait until they notice.
We spoke to them, explained everything, apologized profusely….. and they told us not to sweat it, not a big deal. They love their scotch and wine so we bought them two cases of each. We moved the shed in the fall. We'll be moving the fence as soon as the construction is over (backyard is a mess) & cutting the driveway down this summer b/c we have to have it completely ripped out and a new one put in.
Get it surveyed asap. Saw this before up north. If he's a new owner he should have had his land surveyed and the marks should be there.
Should that NOT have been done as part of the purchase survey? I know here in Texas each and every time we have bought a home, a survey has been required to be done by the lender....
Should that NOT have been done as part of the purchase survey? I know here in Texas each and every time we have bought a home, a survey has been required to be done by the lender....
I've never had a survey required. Must be a texas thing.
Although it exists in legal language and everyone on the internet always yells "ADVERSE POSSESION!!!" you should know Judges rarely ever grant adverse possession. This case could go on for years. The old man could easily spend $25k on legal fees.
If it was me, and I was the old man, I would reluctantly admit to myself its someone elses land, and I dont rightfully own it nor should I try and take it from him. I would have someone re-pave my driveway for $1000. Very simple fix.
Sure, simple fix except for the 3 large trees in the way of widening the driveway in one direction, and the sidewalk in the other.
Glad it was resolved, and the man has his driveway back.
I've never had a survey required. Must be a texas thing.
Hmmm. Here in Texas, the survey has to be approved by the title company and the lender, and our lenders come from all over the country, so not sure if it's just a Texas thing.
When we had our house built we paid for the builder's surveyor to mark the property lines. Little cement markers in all 4 corners.
Over the years one of our neighbors put in a sprinkler system and then an invisible fence. We asked them to move both in a few feet as they were clearly on our property and we were thinking of selling & didn't want any "issues" with future buyers. They were fine with it & understood that something like that could hold up a sale….and it was easier to have done immediately (meaning while the work was still being done) than 6 months down the road or longer.
We ended up deciding not to sell, but we did put a small addition on last summer. What we found out when we had a survey done by a company we hired is that our fence is on THEIR property, so is a few feet of our shed & part of our driveway (that we expanded just a few feet at the very top). Those cement markers? They had something to do with building the street. The builder's surveyor never put in the markers we paid for.
Absolutely horrified that we had asked them to move their sprinkler lines & invisible fence & that we had been on their property all of these years.
First thing we did was call our lawyer to ask what trouble, if any, we would be in. He suggested we make an offer to buy the square footage (by figuring out what a square foot was worth based on property taxes) or wait until they notice.
We spoke to them, explained everything, apologized profusely….. and they told us not to sweat it, not a big deal. They love their scotch and wine so we bought them two cases of each. We moved the shed in the fall. We'll be moving the fence as soon as the construction is over (backyard is a mess) & cutting the driveway down this summer b/c we have to have it completely ripped out and a new one put in.
Talk about feeling like a jerk!
you might feel like a jerk, but reading your post you don't sound like one. Well done for stepping up and doing the right thing once you realized your mistake. If more people acted like you insurance would be dirt cheap and people would have happier lives.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
