Neighbors building on my land

[Sierra2700]

What is the name of your state? North Dakota

I just purchased a piece of property (single family home) with a large lot on it, and there is a building that is about 15 feet wide by about 40 feet long. It hangs over the property line about 20 feet. I just closed on the property and now I am wondering what can be done legally before I contact the owner.

The neighbor does not have a easement or anything like that but the small building has been up for roughly 60 or 70 years, its an old farm shed.

I plan to tell him nicely that I have plans with the area of land and ask him to take it down at his convienience.

However if he tells me he won't take it down what are my options? Can he legally leave it standing since its been there so long?

What if he agrees to remove it but wants me to pay for it?

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? North Dakota

I just purchased a piece of property (single family home) with a large lot on it, and there is a building that is about 15 feet wide by about 40 feet long. It hangs over the property line about 20 feet. I just closed on the property and now I am wondering what can be done legally before I contact the owner.

The neighbor does not have a easement or anything like that but the small building has been up for roughly 60 or 70 years, its an old farm shed.

I plan to tell him nicely that I have plans with the area of land and ask him to take it down at his convienience.

However if he tells me he won't take it down what are my options? Can he legally leave it standing since its been there so long?

What if he agrees to remove it but wants me to pay for it?

I plan to tell him nicely that I have plans with the area of land and ask him to take it down at his convienience.

He will then axe you nicely if you know how to use Google. If you say, "Yes!", then he will suggest that you look up: "north dakota" "easement by prescription"

North Dakota: In North Dakota, the period of adverse use must be at least ten (10) years. North Dakota Code §47-05-12.

 

[JETX]

I just purchased a piece of property (single family home) with a large lot on it, and there is a building that is about 15 feet wide by about 40 feet long. It hangs over the property line about 20 feet. I just closed on the property and now I am wondering what can be done legally before I contact the owner.

One question for you... why the hell did you purchase the property KNOWING the encroachment existed??
Okay, two questions... And what did the seller say when you asked them about the encroachment BEFORE you purchased??

 

[Sierra2700]

wo wo wo guys.

This is not a critical issue. The house was a steal of a deal. The house is where the money is at not the small building on the lot.

Had the yard been a huge importance to me I would have found out all this information before the purchase, and I would have asked the seller to attempt to have the building removed.

However again the building on my land is more of an issue of where I want to put a garden and a small shed for the boat and what not.

So I am wondering what can be done if anything besides asking him to remove the building.

The building is pretty close to falling over, and has been borded up a few times, the city would probably not consider it unsafe yet but its in great disrepair, im guessing the current owner just doesn't want to spend the cash to tear it down.

I googled Adverse Possession before posting this and found little on this forum except about fences and driveways.

 

[weenor]

wo wo wo guys.

This is not a critical issue. The house was a steal of a deal. The house is where the money is at not the small building on the lot.

Had the yard been a huge importance to me I would have found out all this information before the purchase, and I would have asked the seller to attempt to have the building removed.

However again the building on my land is more of an issue of where I want to put a garden and a small shed for the boat and what not.

So I am wondering what can be done if anything besides asking him to remove the building.

The building is pretty close to falling over, and has been borded up a few times, the city would probably not consider it unsafe yet but its in great disrepair, im guessing the current owner just doesn't want to spend the cash to tear it down.

I googled Adverse Possession before posting this and found little on this forum except about fences and driveways.

Same principals would apply to the building. If the neighbor does not cooperate then see a lawyer about what you need to do to "quiet' the title.

 

[justalayman]

So I am wondering what can be done if anything besides asking him to remove the building.

The building is pretty close to falling over, and has been borded up a few times, the city would probably not consider it unsafe yet but its in great disrepair, im guessing the current owner just doesn't want to spend the cash to tear it down.

.

Start with requesting the neighbor to remove the building. Maybe he doesn't care about it or maybe he is unaware of any possible prescriptive easement claim.

Next, if unsuccessful, call the city inspector and, with any luck, they will condemn the building and require it to be razed.

If not as a safety hazard, then possibly because of code violations. Most zoned communities require some level of maintainance of buildings.
If it is exppensive enough, maybe the neighbor will allow you to raze it rather than spending the money to repair it.

The other thing, with prescriptive easement, you have not lost title to the land yet. Since the building is partially on your property, start storing some stuff in there. (junk stuff). This will probably piss off the neighbor enough to take some sort of action.