3 ms·
> because it was left to sit that way for some period of time, the result of those actions -- a de facto redrawing of property lines -- has become the new legal
by baddox 6y ago
> because it was left to sit that way for some period of time, the result of those actions -- a de facto redrawing of property lines -- has become the new legal status
Yes, the point is there is a specific law that says this, and it's really not that unreasonable, since precise property boundaries are always ultimately conventional.
- kelnos 6y agoProperty boundaries affect home value, though. The parent who brought this up bought a house with the understanding that he would have X square feet of land, but it turns out, due to this weird situation, he only has some Y (< X) square feet. Presumably he might have wanted to pay less for that.
- sergers 6y agoI would go after the realtor. If they sold you a house with X sqft, and you actually get Y sqft, I would say the realtor is liable.
- jessaustin 6y agoThe realtor will blame the title insurance firm and will be out of the picture. The title insurance firm will claim they did nothing wrong, and that it is the landowner's actions (or inactions) that have caused the landowner's losses.
- squiggleblaz 6y agoWhich in this case, it is; the owner sounds particularly upset, but as he tells it the fence was put up shortly before he bought the property. He has sat there for decades without ever having measured it up. Adverse possession takes a long time to come good. All advice about the purchase of property is always to get it surveyed.
- darkarmani 6y agoAnd the owner had a few remedies. The easiest is to quickly grant a revocable right to put a fence there. This makes the possession not adverse (there is no trespass). That makes it temporary.
- tareqak 6y agoAnd, the landowner might have passed away. I understand the reason why someone might not trust the most local government (municipal, state, federal governments as appropriate) to manage the registry of landownership complete with dates, dimensions, notables features, and owners, but I find it really weird that problem of knowing exactly who owns what is effectively an orphan in the last resort.