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> About four years ago I asked the owner to write a note declaring that the fence and property around it was mine and to admit he had no claim
I have read on the internet that sending a registered letter to the neighbor stating that the neighbor's use is by your permission is sufficient to block a claim of adverse possession. That is, HE does not need to agree.
Sounds reasonable to me. But I'm not a lawyer, and I haven't stayed at a Holiday Inn lately.
He only mentioned the fence and the land around the fence and property line, he didn't mention the garden or trees. I couldn't ask him to include those because he would know that I wanted to stake my claim on that part of the property, and I was afraid he would contest it. I wanted something in writing to protect me, but I didn't give him the real reason for the note. He didn't know that it was a permission note for the entire area, could that affect me?
Its impossible to give you a perfect answer not knowing your state...many states have rules that relate to incorrectly placed fences and adverse possession. I think if your letter was sufficiently broad, your letter could be construed as to having granted permission. Its really fact dependent, and can be very local. You just need to ask yourself, what its worth to you. If you get an attorney you know you will spend $X dollars...is it worth it financially?
If it were me, I would have a new survey conducted right now and have the entire property line staked and marked clearly. Then I would remove the old fence that is on my property and reconstruct a new one one or two inches inside of the property line.
I would do all of this without even consulting the neighbor. I would just do it and exercise control over my own property. Let the problem be his....let him sue you. He will quickly find out how expensive an attorney is and may become far more reasonable. If its not a huge lot, you can complete the new fence in one day....maybe even while they are on vacation or out of town so as to avoid confrontation.
That is just what I would do - dont construe it as legal advice.
I have read on the internet that sending a registered letter to the neighbor
stating that the neighbor's use is by your permission is sufficient to block a
claim of adverse possession. That is, HE does not need to agree.
I know, but I didn't do this and the note is specific to the fence, not the part of the property he uses. As I said, I told him that I was taking down my own fence and staking my claim to my fence area and surrounds so that he wouldn't encroach with his fence when he put it up. That was how I approached the note, and why he agreed to write it. Now I think it might work against me if he testifies the real reason and the fact that I accepted the note as is, and didn't ask him to include the trees and garden.
TBH, I do not have the funds to take this to court and I'm worried that if I go to a lawyer this will escalate and I will have no choice in the matter. It is causing me great concern because I have reason to believe that the neighbor has a legitimate tacking claim from the previous owners, which negates my note written after the prescriptive claim went into effect. I'm basing this on some comments the previous owner of my property made at the time of sale, but I didn't pay much attention then.
Obviously, the bad blood between us is making this difficult and my actions are seen as vindictive due to my previous dispute with my neighbor last year. I just don't want this to turn into another nightmare that I will lose.
If it were me, I would have a new survey conducted right now
and have the entire property line staked and marked clearly. Then I would
remove the old fence that is on my property and reconstruct a new one one or two
inches inside of the property line.
I would do all of this without even
consulting the neighbor. I would just do it and exercise control over my own
property. Let the problem be his....let him sue you. He will quickly find out
how expensive an attorney is and may become far more reasonable. If its not a
huge lot, you can complete the new fence in one day....maybe even while they are
on vacation or out of town so as to avoid confrontation.
Then I would have to cut right through his garden, ripping it apart and remove or damage his trees which is not feasible, as damaging his property could be costly in itself. I don't believe I have to right to cause damage to his property?
I was going to mention something along Rational's line. We had a neighbor who...that last crazy poa I talk about...the poa claims they didn't know the property they were working on was actually a homeowner's property. Close to her house and all. And then tried turning the tables saying she knew all along and kept it from them. Is there a headscratching emoticom?
Her resasonable response was would I put up with all this mess if I knew it was my property.
She went round and round and decided with legal advice the best thing at this point unfortuantely was to let them continue the neighborhood-effection work which cut through her property. And to have her lawyer draw up a letter reviewed by the hoa lawyer saying she granted them permission to come on her property (noting certain parameters) and that at any time either side could break this agreement for any reason.
Her granting easement and their signing this said, essentially, they didn't already have it. In any form.
But you'll need a lawyer to really cut to the chase and do the legal thing quickly and accurately.
Has your neighbor's lawyer contacted you or did you just somehow learn that he has retained a lawyer to deal with the issue? If you want your property back and this isn't just a neighborly peeing contest, get a lawyer. It won't turn into any sort of a nightmare unless you waste time speculating on a forum and don't retain legal counsel. Good luck!
His lawyer has contacted me via letter, advising me to cease and desist until they get a survey done. I forgot to mention that our neighbors on all sides are encroaching on each other (I have some of my neighbor's property on the other side), so it seems that they may have a claim that the survey was off and are going a do a GORE of our block of houses to see where the property lines for each property actually are. I know my neighbor's neighbor on his other side has some of my neighbor's property as well, so it seems to be common in this neighborhood. That is one of the reasons I didn't contest it. When my neighbors on my other side bought their property a few years ago, they didn't ask for their property back from me either.
Its impossible to give you a perfect answer not knowing your state...many states have rules that relate to incorrectly placed fences and adverse possession. I think if your letter was sufficiently broad, your letter could be construed as to having granted permission. Its really fact dependent, and can be very local. You just need to ask yourself, what its worth to you. If you get an attorney you know you will spend $X dollars...is it worth it financially?
If it were me, I would have a new survey conducted right now and have the entire property line staked and marked clearly. Then I would remove the old fence that is on my property and reconstruct a new one one or two inches inside of the property line.
I would do all of this without even consulting the neighbor. I would just do it and exercise control over my own property. Let the problem be his....let him sue you. He will quickly find out how expensive an attorney is and may become far more reasonable. If its not a huge lot, you can complete the new fence in one day....maybe even while they are on vacation or out of town so as to avoid confrontation.
That is just what I would do - dont construe it as legal advice.
I was going to agree with this and then I read that many of the lot lines were wrong in your neighborhood.
What a mess!
One of our neighbors put up a fence in an incorrect place over 60 years ago (it went about 30 feet over the property line on our side). My dad suspected it right away but didn't make a big deal about it (what difference is 30 feet in one small spot in 240 acres?). About 20 years later the man had it surveyed to build a driveway. After the survey he knew for sure that the fence was wrong and we knew it, too but he/his children/my father/his children never changed the fence (he built the driveway on his property just over the property line).
My father was always worried about the fence being a problem (but had no reason to have him move the fence).
We sold the land a few years ago and the "official survey" was what mattered not the fence that was in the incorrect place from about 1950 to 2012.
However, one of our neighbors also had an incorrectly placed fence and I believe that he "lost" that property to his neighbor because that fence had been there too long.
It just shows you that the law can be very specific for specific situations and you can't jump to conclusions.
To the OP, maybe the length of time that the fence was up "makes a difference" and maybe it does not. See an attorney.
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