Property line dispute, anyone dealt with this?

The previous owners aren't the current owners. Game changer.....

 

Oh, and thank them for the free bushes, they will look good in other parts of your yard

 

Only way for the other owner to take over the land is to have paid the taxes on the property. You obviously have been paying your property tax on all the land that they think is theirs. They have no right to the land and you are allowed to do with your property as you see fit (within the laws of the state/county/city). Take out the irrigation and cap it where it sits on their side of the line. Start building your drive way.
California

Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 325

5 years (taxes)

Paid taxes on the property in this state during this time period.

 

gotta throw some levity in here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLHFdduVDVg

 

This sounds promising...but I'm thinking not that simple. A third party is involved now. I wouldn't touch anything now in this case without representation.

 

Advice from a surveyor - get a survey done on your own, find the true corners and have them marked. Once that is done talk to your neighbors, this isn't an issue where lawyers HAVE to get involved, but they sure might have to.

I'm not in California so don't know exact land laws there, so make sure to explain to the surveying company you're exact predicament, a PLS should know best how to approach the situation. If it's like Ontario or Alberta you have solid footing to get your entire property - those regions as long as you're present and knowledgeable of the ground area (i.e. walking the area that is yours) you retain possession.

 

He never lost his property, No written permission, not on any bill of sale, not on the purchase survey, before or after both property purchased.
This is open and closed, they will never win in court. At time of sale, they received a survey stating what is legally theirs nothing more, nothing less.
No easment rights, no structure. Done.

 

I'm pretty sure you can't just decide to take possession of property especially in a subdivision with defined property lines regardless the circumstances. If they check their paperwork, they will find out that they didn't pay for the "disputed" property. If they fight you once the survey is done, make them move their shit immediately. Looks like a 3 hour job to me.

 

^^^

 

This is for Alberta and Ontario, so may not apply but by this thread it sounds like it's prevalent in the US as well - You can lose your property if you do make any attempt to retain it. And it can be done 100% without your knowledge. If they can prove you either have not paid attention to the area for a specific time frame, or that you allowed them to take it over they can get a new survey done and poof, your land is gone. I believe this is not the case here, but saying it's cut and dry that he'll get it back because of a lack of transfer isn't correct.

 

This ^^^

 

@HBdirtbag In the three hours since you posted, I sure hope that you've reached out to an attorney. Time is of the essence. A former coworker had to go through this. He barely got the neighbor off his lawn before the adverse possession took property away from him.

 

None of that matters in a potential case of adverse possession.

The elements are:

A hostile claim (i.e. a trespassing)

Actual possession (a physical presence of some sort on the land in question)

Open and notorious (not done in secret)

Exclusive and continuous (the trespasser isn't sharing the land with others, and the trespassing must occur for the required amount of time...5 years in CA. Also, time can be "tacked" on from a previous trespasser).

California also requires the trespasser, or trespassers to pay the property taxes for the five year period...which apparently did not happen here. There are some exceptions to this requirement, but I don't think they would apply here.

@HBdirtbag might also have an argument that he gave permission to the trespasser to use the property...at least for the time being. Granting permission would remove the element of "hostility." Of course, having this permission in writing along with an acknowledgement of who the property belonged to would be important.

Even though the trespassers didn't pay the prop taxes, I would still consult an attorney.

 

Canada squatter rights


Meaning of Adverse Possession
Under Canadian property law, a squatter must be in open, notorious and continuous possession of all or part of a landowner's property for a specified length of time. In other words, the squatter must act is if he owns the property and not try to hide his use of the property from the owner or the public in general. The length of time required varies by province. In Ontario, a squatter can make a claim for possessory title based on adverse possession after 10 years. By contrast, the time period is 20 years in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. However, possessory title is not the same as absolute ownership when the land is registered under the squatter’s name in the land titles register. To make a claim for absolute ownership in Ontario, the time period based on adverse possession is 20 years.

Protection Against Adverse Possession
Some Canadian provinces have laws that protect landowners from adverse possession. For example, many properties in Ontario were converted to land titles under the Land Titles Act, which protects owners from adverse possession. Someone making or defending a claim of adverse possession must show that their possession had been taking place for 10 years before the date of conversion. In other words, if the property in Ontario was converted to a land title 25 years ago, the squatter must show he had adverse possession of the property for at least 35 years. In British Columbia, the British Columbia Limitations Act makes it impossible to acquire land through adverse possession unless the right to that land by adverse possession existed before July 1, 1975.

Not the case here.

 

It's not 100% necessary at this point, until the new neighbors try to dispute the survey they aren't needed. A survey is a lot cheaper than lawyers, and a lawyer will ask for a new survey (a good lawyer at least).

 

Get the survey, take your land, they will not take you to court, they will loose.

 

I agree,
No one what to spend money on a lawyer or court when they know they will loose.

 

In the few instances I've seen here in Colorado with AP, the property line and survey wasn't in question at all. Had absolutely nothing to do with it. Nothing. Adverse Possession!!! Some owners had no clue their property was squatted on. Even worse when you let them encroach after the fact and do nothing for several years and trust them to give it back? Nothing in writing??? Give me a break.

 

I agree, if you think these neighbors will cooperate, no need to involve an attorney. But it would be a good idea to get something "concrete" declaring you the rightful owner and having the trespassers forfeit any potential rights they may have acquired. Without that, there could be a potential "cloud" on your title if and when you ever decide to sell.

 

As this may be true in some very rare cases, (mainly farm land after 20 or so years with understood permission) the time frame is extensive and usually not in a situation like this. Property bought and sold with detailed property lines of exactly what was purchased.

 

I might know a guy that knows a guy that could make your problems "disappear". Cash only, of course.

 

A PLS will know best, they have to do exams that deal with this exact stuff. The different states/provinces have little nuances so that in one place this situation is cut and dried, but another it is very convoluted.

Get the survey done and make sure they mark out the property line based on the most recent survey plan. Lawyers don't have be involved, but if they do it is up to the neighbors in this case to take it to that level. Once it goes to that level 2 things will have to be found (by the lawyers but paid for by you and the neighbor) - survey plan and legal precedence. If there's been a previous legal case where this situation has occurred then that will 99% be the outcome in this case too.

I know I'm kinda muddying up the waters, but this is not a cut and dried situation from the info provided (we only have 1 side mainly). Survey law will make you're head spin, and many times you will be left scratching your head and not coming up with a clear resolution based on how survey law is written. There's a reason becoming a PLS isn't a quick 2 year course or small exams, there's just too many nuances to know.

 

Not as rare as you think and the instances I'm referring to were all done without permission on non farm land. Yes the properties were unoccupied and squatters took over. The OP's situation is a bit sketchy to say the least since there is a third party now who new nothing about what the previous owner did. Lawyer up time for everyone.

 

Are you the neighbor?

 

Nope. I get my shit squared away upfront to avoid issues like this.

 

Yep, me too and so did both neighbors when they signed the sales docs with surveys agreeing to what is included in the purchase.
It's not like 10 or 15 or 20 years went by.

 

Yup. And considering the neighbor paid $1.5M for the prop according to OP, I would guess they have the resources to at least drag this out a bit with the suits if they are already talking adverse possession.

 

5 years is a short time? Seriously? I wouldn't let my neighbor encroach on my property for one hour.

 

Yep...