34 year old fence and property line dispute

[monmouthco2008]

What is the name of your state? NJ

34 years ago a fence was put up dividing my property and our neighbors , with no issues whatsoever. Our neighbor actually helped put it up. Fastforward 34 years our neighbors children have sold the house. The survey was recently done and the little pink flags indicate our fence is approx 15ft on to the neighbors property. The neighbors children haven't mentioned it to us, we are very friendly with them, but I am worried the new owners may be looking to claim that 15ft.

Do we have "squatters rights: or any kind of right to the property?

Thanks!

 

[divgradcurl]

What is the name of your state? NJ

34 years ago a fence was put up dividing my property and our neighbors , with no issues whatsoever. Our neighbor actually helped put it up. Fastforward 34 years our neighbors children have sold the house. The survey was recently done and the little pink flags indicate our fence is approx 15ft on to the neighbors property. The neighbors children haven't mentioned it to us, we are very friendly with them, but I am worried the new owners may be looking to claim that 15ft.

Do we have "squatters rights: or any kind of right to the property?

Thanks!

You might, under adverse possession. You might want to talk with a lawyer about a "quiet title" action on the 15' strip.

 

[FARMALL_M]

Why do you think you can claim your neighbors property? What if that fence was in 15ft on your side of the line? Would you give that property to your neighbor? Just leave it be and stay friends with your new neighbors.

 

[monmouthco2008]

I would think I have a claim b/c I have been maintaing this side if the fence for 34 years and paying property taxes on that land. And yes had those 15' been on the neighbors side I would understand their position, but it's not. And not for nothing i'm not willing to lose 15' of my backyard to appease people I don't know.

I'm not looking for advice on how to make new friends with my new neighbors, i'm looking for factual legal advice. So you can keep your pop psychology.

 

[HuAi]

I would think I have a claim b/c I have been maintaing this side if the fence for 34 years and paying property taxes on that land. And yes had those 15' been on the neighbors side I would understand their position, but it's not. And not for nothing i'm not willing to lose 15' of my backyard to appease people I don't know.

I'm not looking for advice on how to make new friends with my new neighbors, i'm looking for factual legal advice. So you can keep your pop psychology.

How is it that you ended up paying taxes on that strip of land?

 

[xylene]

I would think I have a claim b/c I have been maintaing this side if the fence for 34 years and paying property taxes on that land. And yes had those 15' been on the neighbors side I would understand their position, but it's not. And not for nothing i'm not willing to lose 15' of my backyard to appease people I don't know.

I'm not looking for advice on how to make new friends with my new neighbors, i'm looking for factual legal advice. So you can keep your pop psychology.

What is your Proof you paid taxes on those 15 ft of land.

Apparently your contention that it is "your" back yard was extremely shortsighted as that is not quite openly being contested.

The position of the fence does not make it your yard. Also since you had the neighbors permission...

Are you saying this survey is inaccurate. If so get your own and rebutt the survey.

Is you admit the survey is accurate, then do as is suggested, get a real estate lawyer and make sure the property is rightly titled to you.

 

[Orcons]

I'm not looking for advice on how to make new friends with my new neighbors, i'm looking for factual legal advice. So you can keep your pop psychology.

If you are looking for "factual legal advice" then go pay for it. If you come here you get what you are given.

 

[VictorD]

I live in another state and I have been involved in a situation similar to yours, except on the other side of the fence. The fence was there for over 35 years, so the people living in the house next door (I won’t dignify them by calling them “neighbors”) were occupying some of what is now my land for a long time. For various reasons, I decided that I needed to end their use of my land. The dispute is now well into its third year.

They filed a lawsuit against me, attempting to obtain “quiet title” to part of my land through adverse possession. Obviously, they paid for advice from a lawyer before doing this. But they got pretty lousy advice because the lawsuit they filed was completely bogus. Even I could see that, though I’m not a lawyer. Unfortunately, it cost me many thousands of dollars in legal fees to get a court ruling. But the judge did dismiss their case. Now we still have to fight about the amount of damages that they caused by their trespass.

Needless to say, this has not been a very pleasant experience for me. But at least I’m not losing any of my property rights. The people who live on the other side of the fence are probably not very happy either. (Though how would I know, since I don’t speak to them?) They’ve shoveled a big pile of cash into their lawyer’s pockets and they’ve gotten nothing in return. They can no longer use my land, and they’ve lost the considerable amount of money that they had spent on improvements to my land. It’s what you might call a lose-lose situation.


Depending on the details of your situation, you may indeed have a winnable adverse possession case. Or you may not. The only way to find out for sure is to file a lawsuit, and it will cost you big bucks to get to a verdict. Then you may find that the answer is not the one that you wanted to hear.

Assuming that the new survey flags are in the correct location and that the 15’ really belongs to your neighbors, my free advice would be to try to work something out with them. Try to buy the 15’. Or try to rent it. You’ll need to think long and hard about what you’ll be putting yourself through if you just try to take it.