On Wed, 21 Jun 2006 18:14:55 -0400, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:

MiamiCuse wrote:
Any advise?
MC

As others have said, you've got to decide which way you want to push
your problem, you'll likely not be able to end up with both your fence
where you want it and a good relationship with that neighbor. Take your
pick.

I'm not at all suggesting that the op put his fence where the neighbor
says his line is, but if he does do something like that, the OP should
take steps to prevent the neighbor from gaining adverse possession.

For one thing, he should, and I'm no;t sure the best method for later
proof, notify the nbor that although he is building the fence inside
his property line, he is not waiving his right to the rest of his
property, and he is granting PERMISSION to the nbor to use it until
the OP wants it back. In a way this could be the worst of both
worlds-- he won't have the land and the nbor may well be angry, but
otoh, the nbor may sell the house in 3 years, or for some other reason
the OP may want to pursue his valid claim, and this will keep the time
from now until then from being included in the 7 years I think someone
said Florida required for adverse possession.

Even this piece of this is complicated, and it might be adviseable to
see if the nbor has any chance of ever getting adverse possiession.
Do they require claim of right in Florida? For that matter, the state
of Louisiana is governed in some or large part by French law. Is
Florida at any rate affected by Spanish law? I've never heard that.

Do all 6 parts of the Eunuch rule of adverse possession apply in
Florida? Are there additional requirements?


BTW, there are questions of proof. In the same way the OP may not be
able to get support from his seller that the neighbor knew where the
propertyh line was etc. or that he gave him permission to use that
strip, the mail forwarding for the seller will expire soon, and unless
he has an unusual name, he may be unfindable by the nbor. Thus,
although he may be able to prove it with his own friend's or his kids'
friends, the nbor might not be able to prove he was using the OP's
land before the OP got there, or 7 years before, even if he was. So
maybe the adverse possession time will "toll" only after the OP bought
the house.

How long has the n'bor owned his house. I think the time limit starts
anew when the house is sold. Lots of legal questions here, maybe the
legal ng can answer some.

**************************

Ah feel yur pain, 'cause a new neighbor swiped about 300 square feet of
our home's lot a couple of years ago when I wasn't paying close enough
attention to what his landscapers were doing. He had them build some
stone retaining walls and planted grass and shrubs on an uncleared
portion of our lot which we weren't using. 15+ years of tree and brush
growth had dulled my memories of where the original survey lines were.

Before I mentioned anything to him I hired a surveyor and spent about
$1,250 getting the lines restaked. A couple of the new survey markers
ended up plunked into his new lawn. This time I made sure I took several
photos of the survey markers in relation to fixed objects so I can use
the pictures for future reference.

I approached the neighbor and asked if he'd be willing to buy the land
he was using from me, for it's proportionate tax assessed value (about
$6,000) or perhaps do a deal with me to annually reimburse the property
taxes I pay on that bit of land (about $90/year nowadays.)

He stalled me for a few months, and I finally decided that it wasn't
worth getting into a ****ing contest with the guy over a bit of land I'd
prolly never want to use anyway, or get involved in a legal hassle which
would undoubtedly benefit my lawyer more than it would me. (Like my
uncle Schlomo used to say, "What do you expect from a pig but a grunt?")

Even putting up an ugly fence along my property line through part of
what he'd turned into "his yard" would be an expense that wouldn't gain
me anything, but would give the neighbor reason to hate my guts and
perhaps do nasty hard to prove things to our property or pets.

So, this way I'm still able to wave hello to him when we're both
outside. He returns the wave, and then I turn away so he doesn't see me
muttering "asshole" under my breath.

That neighbor put his place up for sale a few months ago and I called
the listing realtor, introduced myself, and told her to make darn sure
she told potential buyers where the property line was. She seemed to

Good for you. There might be more that you can do.

understand. Maybe the next owner of that home will have a more
responsible attitude towards things and want to do a deal with me over
"my land" when they buy the place. It still does **** me off a little
four times a year when I'm writing a check to our town for property tax
and I remember that the neighbor is enjoying the use of part of "his"
back yard "tax free".

BTW, adverse possession isn't a factor in our case. Our lot is a class
of property called "Registered Land" here in Massachusetts, and we
retain the right to kick any encroacher off no matter how long they've
"borrowed" the use of part of it.

Verry interesting.

Jeff