Disputes over property lines or fence lines frequently arise between adjoining landowners. The Ritchie Law Firm has been involved in a very large number of cases involving property line disputes or fence line disputes. Property line disputes typically involve some kind of fence that is built on a line that is not the property line. However, the same laws also apply to many other situations such as driveways, buildings, landscaping and other items that encroach across the actual deed property line.
In property line or fence line disputes the most common legal issue that arises is that of "adverse possession". Adverse Possession, generally speaking, is the doctrine of law that provides where a person has occupied and used land for a given period of time the land becomes his even though he does not have record title to the property in the form of a deed. Generally speaking adverse possession results in ownership when a person occupies land, to the exclusion of others, openly and visibly, under circumstances indicating a claim to the land, for the period of time prescribed by the state statutes. If this has occurred the person claiming the land by adverse possession can legally have title judicially perfected in them even though someone else has a deed to the land.
There are a number of little rules contained within the law of "Adverse Possession" such as; It does not matter who pays the taxes on the land, Ownership by the current owner using the land and previous people that used the land can be tacked (added together) to meet the time period requirement. This comes as a real shock to most people because it appears to be a legal way to take land from someone - and that is exactly what it is. Common ways in which adverse possession arises include such instances as; A person has a fence line that is over on his neighbor's property and uses the property as his own; A person maintains a portion of land for his yard but a strip used actually is owned by deed by someone else; a driveway or roadway used by a landowner is actually on another person's land.
This is another legal doctrine by which a property line may be moved or changed simply because of use of property. The typical situation in which this occurs is that a fence or other marker has been acknowledged by adjoining landowners as being the property line, when in fact it is not the actual deed property line. The requirements for this to occur are generally and broadly stated as adjoining owners engaging in conduct which acknowledges the acceptance that a given line is the property line for an extended period of time, even though it is not the actual deed property line. After the passage of a given period of time the designated line becomes the legal property line. This title can then be perfected by a Court order determining the line to be the property line.
Boundary Line By Agreement
Another legal doctrine by which a property line may be determined to be different than the deeded property line is "Boundary Line By Agreement". Generally stated, in this case owners have agreed that a certain line will be the property line even though they know it is not the actual deeded property line. When there has been such an agreement and the condition has existed for a given period of time the actual legal property line becomes that which they have agreed on previously. This type case frequently arises when one of the agreeing owners sells his property and the new owner wants to move a fence that has existed for years under the previous owner's agreement with his neighbor.