What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? washington
I recently had a survey done on my elderly mothers property. The survey shows that the neighbors drive is 60 feet into mom's 2.7 acre property. The drive was placed there by my brother when he owned the land and subsequently sold it to the neighbor. The driveway was placed to avoid having to cross a creek for access to the property. Big mistake not to have a survey.
I have a buyer for the property but the unrecorded encroachment means that title insurance can't be given on that portion of the property so our deal is on hold. I am under the impression that the adverse possession clock would start with the survey and run for 7 years if I take no action. I have offered several solutions to the neighbors including a boundary line adjustment where I give them the property and I purchase a similar area of their property so I can access a landlocked parcel mom owns on their opposite border. The neighbors are not willing to do a boundary line adjustment but are willing to buy mom's property as is.
My brother who owned the property previously advises against selling to them because he had years of problems with them not paying and he finally sold the contract to a lawyer at a big loss. He thinks they are scofflaws. In addition, communication is difficult because they are separated. They have a history on the property of unpermitted structures such as an illegal second home (county shut them down) and illegal ponds that changed the course of the stream through the properties.
The situation seems to be that my only option is to sell to them at a loss. They do not have the cash to buy me out but say they are selling their mothers home and will have the cash at some later date.
My lawyer says I can take them to court to fix the boundary so I can sell it to anyone but I need to have clean hands to impress the court.
The lawyer says that it will cost upwards of $20,000 and several years for them to prevail if I fight them in court. Mom is 97 and may not live to see the property sold. Many of the survivors may not make it either.
What actions of the following, if any, can I take to maintain clean hands while we go to court? All in the spirit of protecting mom's property rights and legal liability of course.
1. Put up a fence corridor along the drive which conforms to the fire department access requirements with self closing gates on both the main road and at the property border.
2. Complain to the state that the illegal ponds have killed many of mom's trees and changed the type of vegetation that grows on her land.
3. Press the county to require the neighbor to remove the half finished residence because of vermin.
4. Allow my brother in law who provides the community water system to terminate their use of the community gravity water system on grounds that they failed to maintain it as they agreed years ago.
5. Cut back trees and branches which have grown into the driveway to conform to the fire department access rules.
I recently had a survey done on my elderly mothers property. The survey shows that the neighbors drive is 60 feet into mom's 2.7 acre property. The drive was placed there by my brother when he owned the land and subsequently sold it to the neighbor. The driveway was placed to avoid having to cross a creek for access to the property. Big mistake not to have a survey.
I have a buyer for the property but the unrecorded encroachment means that title insurance can't be given on that portion of the property so our deal is on hold. I am under the impression that the adverse possession clock would start with the survey and run for 7 years if I take no action. I have offered several solutions to the neighbors including a boundary line adjustment where I give them the property and I purchase a similar area of their property so I can access a landlocked parcel mom owns on their opposite border. The neighbors are not willing to do a boundary line adjustment but are willing to buy mom's property as is.
My brother who owned the property previously advises against selling to them because he had years of problems with them not paying and he finally sold the contract to a lawyer at a big loss. He thinks they are scofflaws. In addition, communication is difficult because they are separated. They have a history on the property of unpermitted structures such as an illegal second home (county shut them down) and illegal ponds that changed the course of the stream through the properties.
The situation seems to be that my only option is to sell to them at a loss. They do not have the cash to buy me out but say they are selling their mothers home and will have the cash at some later date.
My lawyer says I can take them to court to fix the boundary so I can sell it to anyone but I need to have clean hands to impress the court.
The lawyer says that it will cost upwards of $20,000 and several years for them to prevail if I fight them in court. Mom is 97 and may not live to see the property sold. Many of the survivors may not make it either.
What actions of the following, if any, can I take to maintain clean hands while we go to court? All in the spirit of protecting mom's property rights and legal liability of course.
1. Put up a fence corridor along the drive which conforms to the fire department access requirements with self closing gates on both the main road and at the property border.
2. Complain to the state that the illegal ponds have killed many of mom's trees and changed the type of vegetation that grows on her land.
3. Press the county to require the neighbor to remove the half finished residence because of vermin.
4. Allow my brother in law who provides the community water system to terminate their use of the community gravity water system on grounds that they failed to maintain it as they agreed years ago.
5. Cut back trees and branches which have grown into the driveway to conform to the fire department access rules.