Does adverse possession take a court order?

[ralph31]

What is the name of your state?TN
About Adverse Possession

My neighbor is claiming adverse possession on a narrow strip of land. Survey’s
of both property, tax records and title records do not show this property in neighbor’s name. This narrow strip is just outside of my fence that is 1'4" within the property line.

Neighbor claims he “considers” it his and places scrap on it. I remove it and he
places it back.

My question is: Who does this property belong time at this time?
I say it is mine. In order to change ownership, would not this have to be done by a court. Therefore, if and when that happens is another matter. I say, for the time being that I am the owner, and that I have every right to remove the articles of trespass from my property.


Am I correct? Thank You

 

[shades@midnite]

I'm not a lawyer but I've been on the receiving end of an adverse possession fight. I'm in Missouri so you'll have to check how Tennessee law is written. Here is what I learned. It does take a court order by a judge. The person claiming your property will have to serve you with papers stating why he thinks the property should be awarded to him. In Missouri it takes 10 years, but each state is different. It my case, the idiot neighbor wanted my driveway since he didn't have one (he had buildings where his driveway should have been). He claimed I had abandoned the property and he had to maintain it for 10 years. Lucky for me I lived full time on the property and used my driveway daily so his claim could not be proven.

Also, in MO, the neighbor would have to prove he had been using and maintaining the property in spite of you telling him to stay off. (thus, rewarding him for tresspassing in my opinion).

To defend your property you will probably have to spend some money. How much are you willing to spend? How easily can you move the fence? That would be the best solution and document everything with photographs (especially whatever he puts on your property or removes from your property. You may need a surveillance camera). A survey would also be good but they're not cheap. Post no tresspassing signs and do your best to enforce it. Put them up high so they can't be torn down easily. The sheriff/police department has to witness the tresspassing to ticket him, it won't do just to call them and tell them you saw him on your property. Good luck. HOpefully, he's only bluffing. A letter from a lawyer is also good. It shows you mean business and it's not too expensive.

 

[ralph31]

TN
Thanks,
I have all sorts of pictures, letters from him citing the true property line as supported by surveys, etc. He has called the police stating that I have gone onto land that he "considers" his. This guy is real bad news who doesn't know the meaning of keeping his word, etc. I have had my attorney send him a document where I would grant permissive use if he would just dig out the last
part of the bamboo. No response, just a round stony grunt is about the limit of his spoken communications.

We both have an attorney. I don't think he wants to go to court as I would file a counter suit for damages for his planting of bamboo in the area in question that spread over my yard. He moved in 19 years ago, placed yard junk in the area and I then asked him to remove it, which he did. After that he did nothing with the area but plant the bamboo. TN is 20 years, but he is trying to tack on the time when a prior neighbor owned his property but made no use of the strip. He denies that I ever asked him to stay off the property prior to two years ago.

Neighbor would now settle for me putting up a new fence, at my expense, on the true property line. I'll do that when I feel I need another fence and let him look at the sawed off and dead bamboo that I cut off and killed until that time comes. It's in his view not mine. I have cut a gateway into this strip which I leave open and occupy when I removed the rotting logs and old wire that he places there in an attempt, I guess, to prevent me from removing the last vestiges of the bamboo that originates in this area. Of course, he
replaces the junk. The north portion of his rear yard, where this problem is,
looks like a junk yard. He did remove a brick post he had placed to the front of this fenced off area at my insistence, so he has clearly acknowledged the true property line.
Neighbor is one of those guys who gets himself in the news for failure to make repairs to broken down real estate. A real charming guy.