Property line disputes

[roosterdown]

Trees do have tangible value, and that could be some thousands of dollars. Obviously, if you can reach an amicable solution, great, but surveyor + certified arborist + lawyer experienced with both = final solution

 

[KsRancher]

Maybe I'm different than you guys but that looks like a nightmarish cedar situation so I'd be thanking him for paying an expensive forestry mulcher for cleaning up your property line so you can come in afterwards to easily put up a fence wherever the property line may be.

That's kind of what I was thinking. Let him clear the line. Even if he gets a little carried away. Then get a fence put up on the surveyed line.

 

[Scrappy]

Yep, let him clear on boh sides of the property line and have a fence building crew standing there waiting on them to get finished. If the pins are clearly visible I wouldn't waste my money on a survey. Let him try to dispute a straight line between pins.

Maybe I'm different than you guys but that looks like a nightmarish cedar situation so I'd be thanking him for paying an expensive forestry mulcher for cleaning up your property line so you can come in afterwards to easily put up a fence wherever the property line may be.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Tell him he is trespassing. Then, either a lawyer or restraining order.

 

[Maki35]

He has already cut into your property in two areas? It appears he isn't listening to you. I would call the police about your neighbor trespassing& damaging your property. Let the police have a talk with him. He's not going to listen to you. He has already told you that he "doesn't trust the survey"?
Hire your own surveyor soon. And get your property marked and install a fence. Without a fence, your neighbor will probably move your markers and trespass again.

Same thing happened to a friend. neighbor continue to disregard his survey markers. And he finally got fed up and installed a fence.

 

[7mm-08]

Something to research here is a concept called "adverse possession." I understand that a few feet of land here and there on a large parcel doesn't seem like much. My wife and I had experience with this on a property we owned in Washington state where the previous owner failed to fence a 4-foot portion of the parcel the length of a double city lot. We lost that portion of the property to the neighbor because the previous owner allowed the neighbor to maintain and essentially "take possession" of that part of the parcel for 20 years. Just something to be aware of in your state. Good luck with this situation. I agree that a fence on the surveyed property line defines boundaries, which appears to be necessary in this instance.

 

[Crowmangler]

I would also talk to the owner of the forestry mulching company. Let him know about the situation & put him on notice as well (in writing of course) that he will be dragged into the legal mess also if he cuts into you.
But at some point you're gonna have to bite the bullet & have your line surveyed & clearly marked. You can't expect anyone to follow an exact line with that machine unless it's clearly marked

 

[hikenhunt]

Adverse possession takes a while to take affect (years of non-use by the owner and years of use by the non-owner) and it sounds like you're on top of this, so I wouldn't worry about it right now.

It sounds like you've tried to be nice and he is not. To me, it looks like he is now taking advantage of your niceness.

My advice to start documenting everything, take lots of photos, record timelines, conversations, actions taken, etc. Be as specific as you can. I would tell him you're building a fence on the property line and when, document that. You will want a crystal clear timeline if this escalates, speaking from experience on that one.

 

[Aluminum Rain]

The mulching company should be put on notice that they too will be cited for trespassing. I would guess they will not find that very exciting.

 

[Billy Goat]

Check laws regarding timber in your state, if the owner is having any trees cut on you many states have stiff penalties regarding trees being removed from the wrong property.

It's not quite same thing, but be an easy statute to cite.



If you have already said something to him twice I'd no longer talk to him directly, he has had his warnings. I hate to turn to lawye, bit this is going to be an ongoing problem, I'd hit him hard at this point.

 

[MillenialHunter]

Around here, it is the responsibility of both adjoining property owners to pay equal parts for establishing and maintaining the fence, even if the other neighbor doesn’t want it.

Who knows you might be able to get half a fence out of him just because he didn’t want to respect the boundary.

 

[Yoder]

Is it possible to run a piece of electric fencing wire along your property line? Put some flags on it. It will be cheap and easy to see. Then tell the guy if you cut past the wire, we're going to have a problem.

 

[KsRancher]

I understand not wanting him on your property. But if you are wanting to get it fenced to keep him on his side then I don't see why a person would stop him. You will have to pay a lawyer to fight him. Then when that's all done. You will have to pay the mulching company to come remove the trees from your side that were getting removed for free. And then you will have to stay off of his side. If he will clear a nice wide path for fencing let him have at it.

 

[ddd-shooter]

I understand not wanting him on your property. But if you are wanting to get it fenced to keep him on his side then I don't see why a person would stop him. You will have to pay a lawyer to fight him. Then when that's all done. You will have to pay the mulching company to come remove the trees from your side that were getting removed for free. And then you will have to stay off of his side. If he will clear a nice wide path for fencing let him have at it.

Man I came to say the same thing.
I wouldn’t say another word, but I’d be up there as soon as the mulchers left with a fresh survey and a fence crew right behind them.
Don’t leave any time between surveying and fencing, or you’re gonna run the risk of having to survey again.
It’s not like you can fence it as is anyway.

Once the fence is up, then you have much more solid legal ramifications and local law enforcement have a much clearer case against someone.
Let the fence do the talking and try not to have it continue to escalate, especially if he’s there more than you.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

We had a similar issue. It started well before we owned the property. There is an Edison easement behind our property and many years ago people start extending their property lines by anywhere from 5' to 10' onto the Edison property, about 200' wide. They were putting up simple fence or block walls. The property we own had a block wall extending about 10 ft. out, which was put up by previous owner. Several years ago Edison informed us we would have to remove our fence/block walls back to original property line. We took the issue to the courts and we won. If I remember correctly we won under adverse possession. The court said, the new property lines had been in place for to many years for Edison to have a claim to the land. Most of the property owners had moved onto the Edison easement many years prior and, at that time were never asked by Edison to relocate their boundaries.

 

[insanelupus]

Survey it, post it, trespass violaters off the property by the Sheriffs office, fence it if you wish.

 

[stanginthe11s]

so he wants to give you free water and electricity? sounds like a good deal to me lol. I would be that guy and tap it when he's done, after all it is on your property.
just have a talk with the clearing company, they don't need a GPS to cut a line and they will not want a lawsuit so they will figure it out quick. I agree with everyone else, and it sounds like you need to have the "man to man" talk with the neighbor. good luck.

 

[Elcy]

Some good info in this thread, which is a similar problem to the OP's problem
@cardiac5

Property boundary legal question.

Bought some acreage last year that wasn't surveyed. Yes I know, should have. Question is, a boarding neighbor (he's owned the property 3 years) is claiming/fenced (old) and gated (new), what would be the southern road access to my property at least according to County GIS maps. Obviously the...

rokslide.com

 

[Loo.wii]

If he doesn't trust surveyors...

A lawyer.

He probably won’t trust those either

 

[GSPHUNTER]

He probably won’t trust those either

Who does?