New Homeowner – What if the previous homeowner said the neighbors could build on my land. verbal or written?
You would think will all the billions of post on the internet someone would have my exact or similar situation somewhere. Maybe I just haven’t came across the right post.
I recently purchased my first house. We have been planning to build a fence in our backyard. I have found all four corners to my lot which match the plats in the county clerk office, everything seems to be spot on. The only problem, our neighbors existing fence (which has been there since the land was developed, 4 yrs) is on our property by 20 feet in the back of the yard and about 4 feet in the front. (We have a lot that is in a turn.) Is it possibly that the previous owner and the neighbor have worked out a deal that didn’t make it on the deed? If I approach the neighbor about this and he has a document that says the previous owner agreed he could have the space or build a fence on the land do I have any say? Is the document now void? Do I have any rights to take the land back? Also, if it helps I bought the house through HUD (As-Is) you would think HUD would have discovered this!
February 12th, 2010 at 4:51 am
If your neighbor has a legal easement or right to have the fence on your property, they should have it in writing and notarized and signed by all the pertinent parties and it should have been on your title/deed paperwork.
In the past, surveying was often off by a lot or the old owners and neighbors may have not known exacty where the line was and the old owner and the neighbor didn’t want to pay for a new survey to find out and didn’t really care.
Keep in mind, if you make a big stink about this, while you may be in the right, you could make an enemy of your neighbor for as long as you live there.
You may want to bring up to the neighbor that you were surprised to find on your paperwork that his fence is not on the property line, at least according to your paperwork. See what they say. There may indeed be a legit reason or just an error. He may apologize and offer to move it, he may argue and say according to his paperwork or the survey done four years ago that he is right, or ?????
Maybe if he reacts well, you could offer to help him move it when he gets time in a month or two.
February 12th, 2010 at 4:51 am
Bub makes a few suggestions for approaching your neighbor diplomatically. They are sound. Whatever approach you take you must get your property back by getting the fence moved. Any verbal agreement the former owner had with your neighbor is not enforceable and is worthless. Any easement that may have been granted by a former owner should be recorded and discovered during the title search. An unrecorded easement is worthless so toss him off or you will lose part of your land forever. You may wish to consult a lawyer if the former owner did grant an easement that was not recorded. You must resolve this one way or another. Good luck.
February 12th, 2010 at 4:51 am
Didn’t you get title insurance when you purchased the home? If you did, you should be able to talk to the title insurance company to try to figure out a remedy. If the title insurance cannot solve the problem, they would have to pay you for the lost property.
Usually if it is a few inches, the law considers that as insignificant but 20′ would usually be considered major.