boundary dispute

[cindyg493]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
We recently purchased a property that was advertised as having 5 acres. The seller disclosed that a survey had been previously done and the fence was the property line. When we moved in we started to put up new fence. The fenceman thought something was off when lining up the new fence with the corner markers on the property. We hired a surveyor and yes our neighbors horse fence imposes onto our property by 32' at some places. The neighbor is irate and pulled out the flags and says we better not trespass again and the property is his right up to the fence. What do we do now? Must we put money out for a lawyer to fight for the ground we bought? Need some help here in Levy county Florida

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
We recently purchased a property that was advertised as having 5 acres. The seller disclosed that a survey had been previously done and the fence was the property line. When we moved in we started to put up new fence. The fenceman thought something was off when lining up the new fence with the corner markers on the property. We hired a surveyor and yes our neighbors horse fence imposes onto our property by 32' at some places. The neighbor is irate and pulled out the flags and says we better not trespass again and the property is his right up to the fence. What do we do now? Must we put money out for a lawyer to fight for the ground we bought? Need some help here in Levy county Florida

**A: yes, that's what it sounds like.

 

[cindyg493]

what about the realtor and the property owner being responsible for this problem? On our property disclosure they stated there had been a survey and the fence line is the property line. Shouldn't they be the ones paying since they falsely represented the boundaries? Had we known ahead of time that the line was off by that much we would never have bought the property because we wouldn't want to get involved in a dispute with a neighbor, we didn't come here for that. We just want to retire and upgrade our property and not bother anyone. We just want what we paid for.

 

[justalayman]

the Realtor generally skates as they get to rely on the owners claim. You might have a claim against the seller but not because of the fence placement per se but the neighbor arguing having a claim to part of your property.

There is also a possibility the seller was simply mistaken though and could even be honest in his claim. So, start with speaking with the seller about the situation.

I would try to speak with the neighbor about the situation explaining your findings and what you were told by the seller. Maybe he has some insight to the situation.

Then I would speak with your surveyor if anybody continues to claim his survey is inaccurate. While it sounds like a huge error if he did, it can happen.


Depending what you discover at each step will guide your next action.

 

[cindyg493]

the realtor would never let us talk to the seller. We are from out of state and wanted to ask about phone, internet, trash services etc.
The neighbor making the claim says he put a porch on the back of the home for 2 owners previous to us in exchange for moving the fence over onto their property. Apparently nothing was filed with the county deeds office or he would have been paying taxes on the extra ground he acquired and I think the deed for our property should have been changed to reflect the loss of acreage and then he would have had to pay taxes on it.
He has a horse in the pasture, and we have horses too. We don't want to just tear the fence down to a point where his horse could get loose. We've talked to him and told him since he put the fence up we would allow him to remove it and place it on his property rather than us tear it down and throw it away. We are trying to work it out but he doesn't want to hear anything about it and claims he is out $5000. if we take the ground from him. I wish there was an easy solution but it isn't looking that way.

 

[csi7]

Our realtor worked with us to address the boundary issue when it was a problem ten years after the property was bought.
The property survey was still on file in the realtor's office, along with the neighbor's property survey, the surveyor's office provided us with information to clear up the misunderstanding. The title insurance company also reviewed the information to be certain that everything was official.
Getting the property survey checked and validated is the first step we took with our case.
Ask questions, get referrals where needed, and keep track of who you talked to, contact information, and what information you are provided.
We ended up getting a vital piece of information through a referral.

 

[justalayman]

well, since contracts concerning real estate MUST be in writing, have him show you the contract where he effectively purchased (bartered) the land. Absent that, tell him to get off your land.

His only option at that point would be a claim of adverse possession or prescriptive easement. Since the use was apparently not adverse to the true owners intent, there would be no viable claim

. If that gets brought up, contact an attorney and ask about filing suit against the seller and the neighbor.

We are trying to work it out but he doesn't want to hear anything about it and claims he is out $5000.

tell him to chase the people that screwed him out of $5k. It isn't you.

 

[sally1]

If you had a surveyor come out and mark your boundary then it will be up to your neighbor to hire a surveyor to confirm or prove wrong your surveyor.If your survey is incorrect then typically the surveyors are required to get together and figure out why they are getting different results.

Your neighbor needs to get a survey done.In the meantime you need to put up your fence where the surveyor says your line is.Remove the horse fence. If you want to be nice about it you can give the neighbor a few months to get a survey done.

A lawyer can tell you if you can get any money from the seller/realtor.

 

[Kiawah]

Or you can sell him the chunk of land, let him keep his fence where it is. Sounds like it's not much land, you'll never miss it, and would be reasonable cost to him. You and He will probably spend more than that, fighting it out with lawyers. Or perhaps rent it to him, for a period of time.

 

[TigerD]

Contact the title insurance company.

DC