Adverse Possession

[cordova]

What is the name of your state? California

Confused: I have been the owner of a vacant lot in California for 19 years. I'm in the process of selling it and my neighbor is giving me grief. He has some junk on my property ( trash trailer, a stack of cinder block and about 30 rail road ties). I asked him 3 times to move the stuff off my property because it is in escrow and will be closing in about 2 weeks. He has not moved the stuff so I sent him a letter to remove it within 2 weeks as I have given him plenty of notice. I then get a phone call from an attorney (at least he said he was an attorney) stating that the neighbor needs a month to remove the stuff and if I kept pushing than the neighbor is going to claim adverse possession because the stuff has been on the property for a long time and I knew about it and never asked for it to be removed. Well I know at one time I posted a few signs on the property and asked him to remove his trailer from the property but I don’t remember the date and I'm not sure what kind of sign I used, if it was a no trespassing sign or a permission to use the property until revoked. What can I do to get him to remove his stuff and for me to protect my property? Can I post abandonment notices on the stuff that says if not removed within 2 weeks it will be considered abandon? How long does it take and what are the steps to take to make sure the neighbor can’t claim adverse possession?
The neighbor has probably had something on my property for the last 10 years. But I did at one time post a sign on the property because he had a travel trailer on my property. He removed the travel trailer but not the other junk.

 

[shortbus]

You don't mention how long the junk has been on your property. In California the statute of limitations is 5 yrs before adverse possession can be claimed.

 

[cordova]

The neighbor has probably had something on my property for the last 10 years. But I did at one time post a sign on the property because he had a travel trailer on my property. He removed the travel trailer but not the other junk.
I am getting ready to go over there and just move the stuff over to his property. I guess if he is going to try to take adverse posession hes going to do it no matter what I do anyway but I fugure this way I can stop worring about whats going to happen and get on with the fight Its really a shame when you let someone use your property because your not doing anything with it at that time, that such a thing like adverse posession can happen. The neighbor is a preacher and all I can say is SHAME ON HIM! You know where hes going and his flock too!
6 months ago I had the property in escrow for $25,000.00 and he pulled out because he said he could not get the money after all. Now its in escrow with a new buyer for $50,000.00 and is going to close pretty soon.
Can I get in trouble for moving the stuff its just a trash trailer, a bunch of cinder block and rail road ties?

 

[shortbus]

The whole idea behind adverse possession is to penalize owners who aren't making productive use of their land, so ...

What you need to do is file a motion with a court for ejectment. Hopefully, he will not protest and voluntarily waive any claims he has to the land.

You are going to have problems with your buyer if you knew about this potential encumbrance and didn't disclose it.

 

[divgradcurl]

Unless he can PROVE that he has been paying the property taxes on the part of the land he is claiming under AP for the last five years, he can't claim AP.

Why don't you just move the stuff back onto his land? That would likely be cheaper than filing an ejectment action, and once he has been "ousted" from your land, he either has to file for AP (which he would likely lose unless he has been paying the property taxes) or the AP clocks starts over again.

 

[shortbus]

That's true, in Calif you need to pay prop taxes. However, the neighbor can still claim an easement by prescription on the surface of the property without having paid taxes, which gives him essentially the same rights.

 

[cordova]

I have always paid the taxes on my property.
How can I protect my property? How do I prove that he does not have a right to a claim on my property?
This man is a preacher and I was thinking of posting this letter at his church or on the cars in the parking lot.

 

[shortbus]

You still haven't explained how you "let" your neighbor use your property. If you explicitly gave him permission to put things there, then he has no adverse possession or prescriptive easement claim, since his use of the property was permissive, not hostile.

You should be consulting a lawyer, not putting flyers on cars.

 

[cordova]

I am struggling on how you prove permission. I know the stuff is on the property and the neighbor knows I know it’s on my property because I let him leave it there until I decided what I was going to do with the property. But this is all verbal. So how do prove it? I did not send a letter every 5 years telling he had permission to use the property or not. I did post a sign, which I’m sure he took down on the property about 7-10 years ago. I remember taking a picture but I can’t find it. I lived in England and Maryland most of the time I’ve owned the property.