Extending Property Line

[notasquatter]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey

I bought an existing home in 1997 with the back yard fenced in and a shed in the corner, inside the fence. The home is the last house in a cul de sac, with a river behind it, so the adjacent wooded land belongs to the town (most likely)

At the closing the survey showed that some of the fence, and the entire shed, lies outside the property line.

I would like to know what my rights are over this piece of land and whether I have a legal right to it. I want to do an addition now, and the town has denied me for setback reasons, but has made note of the offending fence and/shed.

Thanks.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey

I bought an existing home in 1997 with the back yard fenced in and a shed in the corner, inside the fence. The home is the last house in a cul de sac, with a river behind it, so the adjacent wooded land belongs to the town (most likely)

At the closing the survey showed that some of the fence, and the entire shed, lies outside the property line.

I would like to know what my rights are over this piece of land and whether I have a legal right to it. I want to do an addition now, and the town has denied me for setback reasons, but has made note of the offending fence and/shed.

Thanks.

**A: you have no rights to claim ownership of the land in question.

 

[notasquatter]

Thanks for the quick reply but .... that's not the answer I was hoping for.

Elsewhere in other threads, I noticed the term "Adverse Possession" being used.

"A typical statute allows a person to get title to land from the actual owner simply by using the land, out in the open for all to see. For example, your neighbor built a fence on your land with the intention of taking the property, paid property taxes, and you knew about it but did nothing. If this continued for a period of time set by state law, your neighbor may be able to claim this property as his/her own. The theory is that, by not disputing your neighbor’s use of your property through a lawsuit, you, as the actual owner have abandoned your rights to the property"

It would seem that this applies in my case, can you explain why you disagree?

Many Thanks

 

[justathought]

Quick skim: Because the "neighbor" in question is not a neighbor, rather the town and you can't take land from the government?

 

[notasquatter]

The quote is 'from the actual owner' so it shouldn't matter who owns it, just that I have been using it.

 

[HomeGuru]

The quote is 'from the actual owner' so it shouldn't matter who owns it, just that I have been using it.

**A: next time post the actual State statute not a quote from some unknown source. If you did, you would see that the state law applies to private property.
The subject property that you wish to aquire is government property.

 

[notasquatter]

Thanks, HG.

I got the quote right here from this site!

http://real-estate-law.freeadvice.com/adverse_possession.htm

Where can I get a look at the State Statute that you mention? Also, I found from the tax maps that the land in question belongs to the town itself, slated for park use. Does the town qualify as 'government' also, and then disqualify me on the basis of it not being private?

Thanks again