Property lines shifted permitted cabin is now on my lot

[JIm C]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Utah
I own a 1/2 acre lot that is one of about 10 lots that is in the Utah wilderness off of a county road. Recently my tax bill tripled. When I called the county asessor I was told that the pioneer survey was in error and that a new GPS survey shifted all of the lots up 1 position. The lot above mine has a small cabin on it and now the I am told that I must pay the taxes on the cabin since it is on my lot.

If we were all organized we could swap land and work it out but nobody wants to do anything. Can I file some type of legal notice that prohihibts the people from using their cabin since it is on my lot? I want to get the ball rolling and get this resolved. I am currently delinquent on this years taxes since I do not want to pay the taxes for my neighbors cabin. Not all of the 10 lots have been improved so there is not a lot of urgency on their part to fix anything since some people moved from an empty lot to another one.

Is that my cabin now? Any ideas what to do?

Thanks,

JimWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[FlyingRon]

What makes you think you are being charged for you neighbors cabin? Were you reassessed for that after they adjusted the lot lines? Did the reassessment say you now include the cabin in your taxes? You can certainly protest any increase in your valuation for that. Most likely you and your cabin neighbor need to get together and rework the deeds on these lots to straighten things out. Frankly your "delinquency" sounds like it predates the realignment so it sounds like you're grasping at straws to avoid paying what you owe.

We've got the same situation here, the lots near mine were subdivided out of a larger one and many family members built houses based on where they thought the lot lines are. You bring up the county GIS now and you can see lot lines running right through houses.

 

[Zigner]

What makes you think you are being charged for you neighbors cabin?

Because that's what the assessor told him

 

[JIm C]

What makes you think you are being charged for you neighbors cabin? Were you reassessed for that after they adjusted the lot lines? Did the reassessment say you now include the cabin in your taxes? You can certainly protest any increase in your valuation for that. Most likely you and your cabin neighbor need to get together and rework the deeds on these lots to straighten things out. Frankly your "delinquency" sounds like it predates the realignment so it sounds like you're grasping at straws to avoid paying what you owe.

We've got the same situation here, the lots near mine were subdivided out of a larger one and many family members built houses based on where they thought the lot lines are. You bring up the county GIS now and you can see lot lines running right through houses.

The tax assessor denied my appeal for the increase in taxes now that I have a cabin on the lot. Their position is that it is an ownership issue not a boundary issue and that I need to work it out. The other owners do not want to do anything to fix it. The lots are very low value. The ones with houses want to leave it alone thinking that it will go away and the ones with empty lots do not really care because they just swapped an empty lot for another one. I can think of many solutions but again, nobody wants to fix it. The state is Utah Thanks for passing on a similar situation. Not sure why you take such a reaction to a post? What makes you think.... Sounds like you are grasping at straws to avoid paying what you owe...

Jim

 

[drewguy]

Legally you should be able to prohibit the people from using the cabin. Whether it is "yours" is another question--you may not be able to simply destroy it legally.

Have you talked to the people who built the cabin? Start by proposing they pay the increased tax until they remove the cabin to their lot. (I assume you can't find others to play musical chairs/lots so they end up with your lot and you end up with an unimproved one).

If they don't cooperate you will have to get lawyers involved to work out how they will correct the mistake.

 

[JIm C]

Legally you should be able to prohibit the people from using the cabin. Whether it is "yours" is another question--you may not be able to simply destroy it legally.

Have you talked to the people who built the cabin? Start by proposing they pay the increased tax until they remove the cabin to their lot. (I assume you can't find others to play musical chairs/lots so they end up with your lot and you end up with an unimproved one).

If they don't cooperate you will have to get lawyers involved to work out how they will correct the mistake.

Right now each person is waiting for the next person to do something My feeling is that if I serve some type of notice it would motivate people to get involved to resolve the situation. You have a good idea regarding asking them to pay the taxes and to stop using the cabin. This is probably the pressure that will bring people to the table to swap deeds.

Thanks!

 

[justalayman]

I would pay the taxes and tell them to stay the Hell out of my cabin. Give them fair warning that if they enter your property, you will file trespass charges.



They are either going to allow you to take over the cabin or they are going to get their butts moving and get this straightened out.


before you do that, I really think you need to get another survey to prove this new survey right or wrong.

Can you explain why the county would send a surveyor out there to survey your property? It costs money and generally counties don't like to spend money without a reason.

 

[HomeGuru]

I would pay the taxes and tell them to stay the Hell out of my cabin. Give them fair warning that if they enter your property, you will file trespass charges.



They are either going to allow you to take over the cabin or they are going to get their butts moving and get this straightened out.


before you do that, I really think you need to get another survey to prove this new survey right or wrong.

Can you explain why the county would send a surveyor out there to survey your property? It costs money and generally counties don't like to spend money without a reason.

**A: yes, a current survey would be advisable.

 

[divona2000]

You might want to discuss this with your insurance company, about the possibility of adding the cabin to your policy until this situation is resolved. Wouldn't want the 'former owner' or their guests to trip/fall/sue you, the 'new owner'.

 

[Terminus]

Get a lawyer...Get a surveyor

It sounds like you have an extremely big mess. First on the survey issue....if there was an error in the original survey and people have bought and sold property based on the erred survey....Then what is in the ground and used by the land owners becomes the boundary. It doesn't just change....and there are numerous court cases to prove this. I would question the legitimacy of the survey....definitely get your hands on a copy of it. Utah is a Public Land System State and a big problem I hear about from out west is new surveyors deciding the BLM manual on how to survey over powers what was actually done. The reality is though is what was originally done and relied upon is now what the boundaries are. I can go on forever on this topic.....

As for the cabin....I would be very careful. The cabin very well resides in the real property world (real estate) and the private property world which would be unaffected by what the tax assessor is doing.