Fence/Driveway Question

[lukej77]

What is the name of your state? Kentucky
I bought a house and decided not to survey the land because the disclosure the seller forwarded to us answered many of our questions about the boundaries. The questions are as follows:

1. Have you ever had a staked or pinned survey of the property? Yes
2. Do you know the boundaries? Yes
3. Are the boundaries marked in anyway? Yes
4. Are there any encroachments or unrecorded easements relating to the property of which you are aware? No

There was a fence surrounding the "boundaries" of the land and so we assumed that the seller had a survey and put the fence on the property lines. We were incorrect. About 6 months after we moved into the house a neighbor to the left of us advised us that our fence was partially on their property and that she had a survey to prove it and would tear it down if we didn't. We, obviously, are not versed in reading surveys, so we decided that it was in our best interest to get our own survey. The surveys came back matching and our fence was on their property. We asked the neighbor if her and the previous owners had ever had any discussions about the discrepancy and she exclaimed that he knew about it. Well now our property line consumes the entire driveway of our neighbor to the right and he is obviously not happy. Any adivce on how to handle this strange situation?

 

[rowz]

You COULD sue based upon the disclosure....though since we cannot see it we do not know for sure. You TRUSTED what they said......but then you did not VERIFY the facts that were presented.

I would call it naivete' as you thought you would cheap out and not do what was necessary and prudent to protect your interests.

Are you in one of those states where people just use title companies and are not required by law to be represented by a lawyer?
Was there a lender and were they OK with there not being a fresh survey?
Do you have title insurance and if you do what have they had to say about it?


You ASSumed that the boundaries were marked, and marked correctly.

You failed to do your due diligence in certifying that you knew what you were buying.

Get a local lawyer to review the situation in its entirety and advise you as your rights.

Good luck

 

[lukej77]

Thanks for the advice!!!!

I will obviously never purchase a home again without having a survey, even though I could survey 20 houses at $1000/home and end up dipping way into my down payment. I know I would not have purchased this home had I had a survey performed. Answers to your questions:

No lawyer had to be present, we were actually not represented by anyone as our realtor was on vacation.

Of course I had to sign a survey affidavit for lender purposes, but they didn't seem to have any problems with me not having a fresh one, noone did, as it is very uncommon to have a survey performed prior to a purchase in my state, VERY UNCOMMON!

I do have title insurance and have written them, however, any problems that arise by a survey that could've been prevented had a survey been performed are not covered in title insurance's standard set of exceptions.