neighbor building on property (legal, inspection, value, offering)
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you clearly don't understand law and should not be giving people such awful advice that might lead them to huge costs.
Remember just because you "FEEL" your rights have been abused does not give you free reign to do what you like. You might see not a "reason" but the courts may very well see a reason to make you compensate the owner of the structure in full and then perhaps add damages and even some charges for destruction of property .....
Really stop and think before you promote reckless action.
I am not a lawyer... never have been and never said I was.
City-Data NEVER offers legal advice.
City-Data is a forum where members share opinions and experience.
Anyone that would rely on a public Forum for Legal Advice is own their own.
Again... if something is on my property I will deal with it. Plain and simple.
Your mileage will vary.
I am California Certified as a trier for fact to arbitrate cases... most of my cases fall into two categories... construction defects and Lemon Law Cases.
As a sidebar... I have several lawyers that call me to ask questions regarding Alternative Dispute Resolution...
As for Courts... I have never lost a case in Court ever and most are Tenant/Landlord with a with Real Estate Buy/Sell and one property dispute.
Readership of City-Data is worldwide and as such there are endless scenarios...
I never understood why people start building anything without first getting a survey. Most times you can get the corners marked for a few hundred bucks......
I lived on a "ranch" property where the smallest lots were 40 acres. Someone actually built his entire house on the wrong lot by about 50 feet or so. The neighbor who owned the lot on which it was built on, completely fenced it off and won't let the guy who built the house onto his property at all and claims that it is now his house. The guy who built the house was offering him 5 of his acres for a 100 foot lot line adjustment so he can have his house, but the other landowner refuses. I moved so I'm not sure how or if this ever got settled, but wouldn't be surprised if the landowner didn't budge.
So according to their situation it's legally the guy who owns the land property and the guy who built the home is out of luck. Your main problem comes from the fact that you haven't closed on the land yet. Can you get out of the deal with minimal losses and move the manufactured home somewhere else? Someone who doesn't survey the land before building on it has a good chance of causing more problems in the future.
We bought our lot 2 years ago. In the past year we have a new neighbor that has put his fence 14 feet on to our lot and his garage is 1 1/2 feet onto our property. It appears that they did not get any permits. We are putting a modular home in this week and after we requested a survey there is concern about our new neighbor being on our property. What does this do with title insurance and everything else?
A few questions
1) how long have you known about the incursions onto your property?
2) Have you talked to the authority that issues building permits in your jurisdiction to see if permits were issued for the building and fence?
3) Are there setback restrictions in your jurisdiction about how close accessory buildings can be to property lines?
4) Do you have a properly documented survey and do you know where the inground markers are? Are the markers visible?
You said you are putting in a modular house this week. It does seem somewhat late to be addressing these issues unless the neighbor just suddenly erected the garage and installed the fence
I own a vacant parcel next to parkland... the city sent me a notice for an illegal structure... which was odd.
I went to investigate and found an illegal structure not on my land but the city parkland.
I let the city know and they said it would be taken care of...
A couple of months later I'm served legal notice for having an illegal structure and the city wants me to get a survey to PROVE the structure is not on my property.
I told the city this is not how it works and asked when they were going to remove the structure... and then went to my council member asking is our city really this incompetent?
The more people involved the more complicated it gets... lawyers love to listen because they are on the clock.
It took about a year for a city crew to come in and remove the structure and they cut my lock for access saying it was the only easy way in... and YES, I insisted they buy me a new lock!
Oops, I thought I read somewhere that OP hasn't closed yet. My apologies.
Hopefully some good diplomacy will motivate him to move the garage and fence. Good luck .
Unfortunately I have the feeling that this is going to take more than goodwill. The neighbor has spent who knows how much to build the garage and this isn't an encroachment of a couple inches but several feet.
He knew full well what he was doing and figured that the empty lot would never be built on.
This will be time consuming and probably expensive.
I would re survey my lot with bright pink markers every 25 feet or so. Then the neighbor can easily visually see where he is wrong. I would give him a few days to remove the fence or you'll do it for him. Now for the garage.... Is it finished or under construction? If it's made out of wood it could potentially be moved while salvaging most of the wood.
Screw lawyers. I'd drive a big d9 Dozer to the lot and give him an ultimatum to move it or you'll move it for him. That should motivate him. It's not illegal to clear your own property.
I never understood why people start building anything without first getting a survey. Most times you can get the corners marked for a few hundred bucks......
I lived on a "ranch" property where the smallest lots were 40 acres. Someone actually built his entire house on the wrong lot by about 50 feet or so. The neighbor who owned the lot on which it was built on, completely fenced it off and won't let the guy who built the house onto his property at all and claims that it is now his house. The guy who built the house was offering him 5 of his acres for a 100 foot lot line adjustment so he can have his house, but the other landowner refuses. I moved so I'm not sure how or if this ever got settled, but wouldn't be surprised if the landowner didn't budge.
So according to their situation it's legally the guy who owns the land property and the guy who built the home is out of luck. Your main problem comes from the fact that you haven't closed on the land yet. Can you get out of the deal with minimal losses and move the manufactured home somewhere else? Someone who doesn't survey the land before building on it has a good chance of causing more problems in the future.
I have to ask at what point did the owner discover the house and fence it off? Did he not ever inspect that area or hear a thing until the entire house was built?
I own a vacant parcel next to parkland... the city sent me a notice for an illegal structure... which was odd.
I went to investigate and found an illegal structure not on my land but the city parkland.
I let the city know and they said it would be taken care of...
A couple of months later I'm served legal notice for having an illegal structure and the city wants me to get a survey to PROVE the structure is not on my property.
I told the city this is not how it works and asked when they were going to remove the structure... and then went to my council member asking is our city really this incompetent?
The more people involved the more complicated it gets... lawyers love to listen because they are on the clock.
It took about a year for a city crew to come in and remove the structure and they cut my lock for access saying it was the only easy way in... and YES, I insisted they buy me a new lock!
Good for you.
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