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1 year ago I bought 5 acres in a deeded estate neighborhood and built a house. I had the property surveyed. A few months after I started construction the neighboring 5 acre lot was purchased. They neighbor proceeded to dig a lake, clear wooded area for a dirt-bike track, and build his house. At the time, we disputed that the land he was clearing and digging for pond, track, and homesite was actually my land. Then he built his house. Now, I've pulled records, plats, deeds, etc. and discovered that he may have built half of his actual house over the line in addition to the excavation. Today, we had a re-survey done and discovered that he has in fact built nearly two thirds of his house over the line and excavated nearly 1.5 acres in total. He claims he was working from what he thought was the boundries based upon the original survey done by the original land owners. He was actually working from a pin corresponding to another adjacent property. He never actually surveyed the property from the beginning. Now we want compensation for the land he's ruined, and the portion of land we stand to lose due to the house placement. He was an a** from the beginning. Any advice on first steps or pitfalls to legal action on this? Thanks very much for any thoughts.
1 year ago I bought 5 acres in a deeded estate neighborhood and built a house. I had the property surveyed. A few months after I started construction the neighboring 5 acre lot was purchased. They neighbor proceeded to dig a lake, clear wooded area for a dirt-bike track, and build his house. At the time, we disputed that the land he was clearing and digging for pond, track, and homesite was actually my land. Then he built his house. Now, I've pulled records, plats, deeds, etc. and discovered that he may have built half of his actual house over the line in addition to the excavation. Today, we had a re-survey done and discovered that he has in fact built nearly two thirds of his house over the line and excavated nearly 1.5 acres in total. He claims he was working from what he thought was the boundries based upon the original survey done by the original land owners. He was actually working from a pin corresponding to another adjacent property. He never actually surveyed the property from the beginning. Now we want compensation for the land he's ruined, and the portion of land we stand to lose due to the house placement. He was an a** from the beginning. Any advice on first steps or pitfalls to legal action on this? Thanks very much for any thoughts.
What state are you in and was this a licensed builder? That would help in giving advise. If he contracted someone else to "build his home" then there could be several parties involved and you may have more than one way to pursue this.
You need a lawyer, and the title company that insured the land. The title company may well go to bat for you over someone encrouging on the property. But at least get a lawyer, not the internet.
Oh dear! what a mess. All I can think of is document everything you say, look up , talk to. Pictures, all the survey stuff. Copies of deeds and plats going back in time (should be able to get that at the county courthouse?) Building permits, right-of ways-.Anything for your file.
Geesh- good luck. IMO the other person has just bought themselves some extra land,,, and, maybe, then some.
He claims he was working from what he thought was the boundries based upon the original survey done by the original land owners. He was actually working from a pin corresponding to another adjacent property. He never actually surveyed the property from the beginning.
Doesn't matter where he thought the boundaries were. It's his responsibility to get a survey before he plunks down a big investment on someone else's property. Your neighbor can either buy the land that he's decided to occupy(assuming you reach a fair price you're willing to accept) or he can move his house. You will most likely need an attorney, especially if he's not cooperative. This should be dealt with ASAP. The longer it goes, the bigger the pain in the butt.
Check with your town building department. I had a little issue with just a neighbor's fence. They told me to try to work it out. If not, I would need to get an attorney to give the neighbor a formal notice and a date to remove the fence. After the date passes, we could remove the fence ourselves. We played with the idea that he would just "give" me the fence to make it simpler. In the end, we made him move it. We didn't want the responsibility/liability of the fence. Adverse possession is not good. You can lose the land forever if you don't deal with it now.
Doesn't this count as trespassing, which means you can pump his a** full of lead?
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