Rotten Neighbor

anonymous · December 2006

A guy next door to my vacant lot had a fence over onto my lot, 8 feet. He gave us permission to remove it (it was falling apart) then sued us after we removed it. He has only been in the house for three years, (only lived there two years when we told him about the prob). Can I go after the title company for selling him the house with an 8 foot encroachment onto my property?

ben · December 2006

I don't think you have to go after anyone. If this fence was on your property then it's yours to take down. If anything, you can go after whoever put it up in the first place to get compensation for what it cost to have removed.

You may have to prove that the fence was indeed on your property. Having a survey available will help with this.

Your neighbor should also have a survey from when he purchased the property so it should be pretty clear as to where the property line is.

lostingreenwoodhts · December 2006

Yes, but for how long was it there? There was legal NY precedent reported in the NY Times over the summer that IF the fence was there long enough (prior to your ownership), he may be able to make claim to the property on the side of his questionable fence (well, sans fence).

How long was it there, if you know?

anonymous · December 2006

Subject: Re: Rotten Neighbor

Rep wrote: A guy next door to my vacant lot had a fence over onto my lot, 8 feet. He gave us permission to remove it (it was falling apart) then sued us after we removed it. He has only been in the house for three years, (only lived there two years when we told him about the prob). Can I go after the title company for selling him the house with an 8 foot encroachment onto my property?

If you aquired your property while the fence was standing, it should have been removed before you took possesion.
If he took possesion of his property after you had yours, you should have removed it then.

Waiting 3 years is a long time. Good Luck

sje · December 2006

Since the fence is legally on your property, doesn't it already belong to you to do with as you please? I don't see a problem.

alafairnadia · December 2006

lostingreenwoodhts wrote: Yes, but for how long was it there? There was legal NY precedent reported in the NY Times over the summer that IF the fence was there long enough (prior to your ownership), he may be able to make claim to the property on the side of his questionable fence (well, sans fence).

How long was it there, if you know?

adverse possession is one of the most difficult things to prove in property law. further, 3 years is NOT long enough to prove adverse title to ANYTHING in most states.

I agree with Ben - the guy has no standing to sue. get a survey to cover yourself and do whateve ryou want with your empty lot.

lostingreenwoodhts · December 2006

alafairnadia wrote:

adverse possession is one of the most difficult things to prove in property law. further, 3 years is NOT long enough to prove adverse title to ANYTHING in most states.

Thanks for the clarification!

anonymous · December 2006

alafairnadia wrote: [quote=lostingreenwoodhts]Yes, but for how long was it there? There was legal NY precedent reported in the NY Times over the summer that IF the fence was there long enough (prior to your ownership), he may be able to make claim to the property on the side of his questionable fence (well, sans fence).

How long was it there, if you know?

adverse possession is one of the most difficult things to prove in property law. further, 3 years is NOT long enough to prove adverse title to ANYTHING in most states.

I agree with Ben - the guy has no standing to sue. get a survey to cover yourself and do whateve ryou want with your empty lot.

You have not given enough parameters to make a determination of the laws.
When did you aquire your property?
When did he aquire his property?
I'm sure if the fence is crumbling and had to be removed, it has been there for a significant period. How old was it?

In a rural environment, it could be hard prove, but I don't see how adverse possession would be the hardest thing to prove in a urban environment.

http://www.laborlawtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6829

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/nycodes/c100/a6.html

alafairnadia · December 2006

Anonymous wrote: [quote=alafairnadia][quote=lostingreenwoodhts]Yes, but for how long was it there? There was legal NY precedent reported in the NY Times over the summer that IF the fence was there long enough (prior to your ownership), he may be able to make claim to the property on the side of his questionable fence (well, sans fence).

How long was it there, if you know?

adverse possession is one of the most difficult things to prove in property law. further, 3 years is NOT long enough to prove adverse title to ANYTHING in most states.

I agree with Ben - the guy has no standing to sue. get a survey to cover yourself and do whateve ryou want with your empty lot.

You have not given enough parameters to make a determination of the laws.
When did you aquire your property?
When did he aquire his property?
I'm sure if the fence is crumbling and had to be removed, it has been there for a significant period. How old was it?

In a rural environment, it could be hard prove, but I don't see how adverse possession would be the hardest thing to prove in a urban environment.

http://www.laborlawtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6829

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/nycodes/c100/a6.html

Did you read the links you cited and the OP? no, obviously we don't have all the facts. and, frankly, I'm not a real estate attorney. but there are a lot of requirements wrt adverse possession noted in the links you cited that show how difficult it is to prove. further, on paper, adverse possession looks pretty simple: 10 years, check. fence = improvements, check. open & notorious? check. but the case law generally presents a much stricter interpretation of the law. did you take a vacation and "abandon" your land for 2 months? time to start the clock over. did you once tell the mail man that you weren't the new owner, that you were just living there for a bit? that's not open & notorious in your claim of title.

Rotten Neighbor

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