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Squatters Rights

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jiffer

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Maryland


I live in Anne Arundel County Maryland and have a question about squatters rights. There is a 10 foot by 100 foot "paper alley" next to my property that is not deeded to anyone. All it is is a peice of grass that we maintain. It is on our side of the fence and our neighbors do not maintain this land. We have been maintaining this property for 14 years and would like to know how to go about owning this land.
 


Some Random Guy

Senior Member
you cannot take property by adverse possession from a government agency. If no person owns it, then the county or state owns it.

Contact the country and see if you can buy the property from them.
 

jiffer

Junior Member
not the countys.

We contacted the county and they said they do not own it. when we looked at the land records a few years ago the last owner we could find was a company in the 1920's. The lady from the county said they put in paper alleys in case something was needed to be put there (road, sewer,ect).

The property is on our side of the neighbors fence. We have been using and maintaining it for 14 years and the previous owner before us. In maryland you need 20 years and we were wondering if "tacking" would apply to our situation.

We were wondering if this is something we can do uorselves or do we need to have a lawyer do it for us? We have no problem filing papers if we knew what to file.
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
Q: We contacted the county and they said they do not own it. when we looked at the land records a few years ago the last owner we could find was a company in the 1920's.

A: Then why do you think that this company does not still own it?



Anyway, get a title report from a title company on the land.

Take it to a lawyer to see if you have a case.
 

jiffer

Junior Member
As far as we know the company went out of business about 30 years ago. thanks for the advice
 

John Se

Member
the company still owns it

also alleys are usually split between adjoining lots in the middle, is there a tax parcel ID on it?
 

jiffer

Junior Member
I have done some checking around and we can not find any tax parcel id. Any suggestions on places to look?
 

Some Random Guy

Senior Member
is this an instance a quit claim deed might be used?
No, a quit claim is when someone sells all of their interest (if any) in a property to someone else. It is different from a regular warranty deed in that the person signing the quit claim does not explicitly claim that they owned the property to start with.

In this case, the actual owner cannot be found, so they cannot file a quit claim.

Normally these parcels would be seized by the county for non-payment of taxes, but in this case, the county never set up that parcel to owe any taxes.

Your best bet would be for adverse possession unless the county finds some way to seize it and you then buy it from them.
 

jiffer

Junior Member
I spoke to a lawyer today and he suggested an adverse possession also and he said if it goes off with out a hitch (if the neighbor does not contest) it will cost about $2000-2500 in legal fees. The way he indicated that the forms are really easy to file. What forms would they be?

Is this something we can do ourselves? If so any advice?
 

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