• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Commercial business encroachment on my property

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

spadham

Junior Member
I live in central NJ and have a business to the rear of my residential property. The area was overgrown since I purchased the property 6 years ago.

When I cleared the area last week to plant a tree barrier I now realize that the business had built their drainage basin approximately 3-4 (deep) feet by 30 feet (long) into my property.

Please advise what rights I have as I fear that timing has run out for any claim I may have.

In addition, I would like to extend an existing retaining wall but will be hindered due to the lack of earth to support my upcoming renovation.

I'm just wondering what options I have at this time.
 


spadham

Junior Member
I'm new here so if I leave out information my apologies.

I had a survey when I bought the house. It did not reveal an encroachment It just listed the lot dimensions and corner indicators.

My property line indicator is located 3-4 feet within the drainage basin.

I have no idea if any agreement from the previous owner was in place and I was never made aware of any agreement at the time of sale.
 

spadham

Junior Member
The drainage basin is an "L" shaped depression that was excavated by the commercial property because they needed a place for the water to go as a result of paving most of their property. The business is a car dealership.

The drainage basin is approximately 30' x 20 "L" shape, is about 4-6 feet deep. It is lined with coarse fist sized rocks.

In addition to the piece of land excavated or removed from my property the "fist sized rock" spill up from the basin and encroach another foot onto my property.

So to produce the drainage basin, a 3' wide x 30' long x 5' deep has been removed from my property. The large rocks spill up and over and encroach another 1'-2'.
 

drewguy

Member
Adverse possession requires 30 years in NJ, 60 in certain circumstances.

If you are certain that the drainage basin is on your property (after a survey), then you should discuss the situation with the business and demand that they move the drainage basin and provide for proper drainage on their property, not yours.

Not sure what support for a retaining wall has to do with property law, but when you go to fill in the basin have some dirt brought in to support that as well.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Not sure what support for a retaining wall has to do with property law, but when you go to fill in the basin have some dirt brought in to support that as well.
if the other owner excavated the area, he should be liable to return it to it's previous condition.


if you have never had a survey, now is the time to get one. You cannot argue anything unless you have support for your claim and an accurate survey is critical to your argument.
Unless the use has been many years (at least 30 it seems to appear), the other guy has no claim for adverse possession or even a prescriptive easement.
 

drewguy

Member
if the other owner excavated the area, he should be liable to return it to it's previous condition.
That's an interesting question. If the damage was done 6 years ago or more, then that may be beyond the statute of limitations for damage to property, even though the time for adverse possession is not met.

If you can get the commercial guy to cooperate you may be able to convince him to fill the trench with dirt excavated from the new trench.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top