What is the name of your state? California
Summary:
I'd like to get (free or paid) the city-owned land enclosed by my fence, and also extend into city-owned land in a lot next to that.
About five years ago, I purchased a home in Los Angeles on an R1 lot near the 90 freeway. As a result of the freeway construction in the 60's, most of the lots at our end of the block are irregularly shaped. The assessor rolls show my parcel of land as being smaller than the area currently enclosed by my fence. In fact, the assessor map looks nothing like the area, because it doesn't even have the 90 freeway which was built in the late 60's. There's also a vacant triangular lot next to us, that I understand is owned by a city agency (Los Angeles Flood Control District), and zoned as Open Space. We've been using the land as it was when we purchased it. We'd like to landscape the garden quite a bit, but my wife is hesitant to invest money in improvements on land that we may or may not technically own.
We have pulled permits and paid for title searches and we didn't get much records about the freeway deal. Old neighbors tell me that my fence has been where it is now since 1967 when CalTrans seized land for the freeway. As part of the freeway deal, the street that was in front of my house is long gone, and a chunk of the yard on that side was taken and made into an artificial creek which is used as over-flow to prevent Ballona Creek from flooding. The front of our house is now the back! Our yard on the side is the butt-end of an alley that used to go to that road that isn't there anymore. The assessor rolls don't recognize that land as being part of any lot at all, they show it as an alley.
The fence is where it always has been, so one could argue that the price I paid for the house took into account the fenced area and since the tax bill is based on the purchase price, one could argue that I have been paying taxes on the enclosed land for all five years since I bought the house. The rest of the "encroachment" or "adverse possession" tests are easily met by my five years of first-hand occupation, and completely overwhelmed by the second-hand 30 years of occupation by previous residents. Lawyers, realtors and appraisers have informally told me that my case is a slam-dunk and nobody is using any of this land anyway and the city will just give it to me if I ask. I've been calling city agencies for a week, and all I get at each city agency is a new phone number for another city agency.
Since the assessor records are obviously out-of-date, I may already own this land, but I'd be hard pressed to prove it. Either way, I'd like to make official what's been going on for 30 years anyway.
Our old neighbors also tell us that the triangular lot next to us was offered to the neighbors on the other side, who apparently declined. This triangular lot is owned by the Los Angeles Flood Control District. If nobody wants it, I'd like to extend my garden out that direction. Maybe I can make something nice where weeds are growing now.
So where do I go, who do I ask, what will it take?What is the name of your state?
Summary:
I'd like to get (free or paid) the city-owned land enclosed by my fence, and also extend into city-owned land in a lot next to that.
About five years ago, I purchased a home in Los Angeles on an R1 lot near the 90 freeway. As a result of the freeway construction in the 60's, most of the lots at our end of the block are irregularly shaped. The assessor rolls show my parcel of land as being smaller than the area currently enclosed by my fence. In fact, the assessor map looks nothing like the area, because it doesn't even have the 90 freeway which was built in the late 60's. There's also a vacant triangular lot next to us, that I understand is owned by a city agency (Los Angeles Flood Control District), and zoned as Open Space. We've been using the land as it was when we purchased it. We'd like to landscape the garden quite a bit, but my wife is hesitant to invest money in improvements on land that we may or may not technically own.
We have pulled permits and paid for title searches and we didn't get much records about the freeway deal. Old neighbors tell me that my fence has been where it is now since 1967 when CalTrans seized land for the freeway. As part of the freeway deal, the street that was in front of my house is long gone, and a chunk of the yard on that side was taken and made into an artificial creek which is used as over-flow to prevent Ballona Creek from flooding. The front of our house is now the back! Our yard on the side is the butt-end of an alley that used to go to that road that isn't there anymore. The assessor rolls don't recognize that land as being part of any lot at all, they show it as an alley.
The fence is where it always has been, so one could argue that the price I paid for the house took into account the fenced area and since the tax bill is based on the purchase price, one could argue that I have been paying taxes on the enclosed land for all five years since I bought the house. The rest of the "encroachment" or "adverse possession" tests are easily met by my five years of first-hand occupation, and completely overwhelmed by the second-hand 30 years of occupation by previous residents. Lawyers, realtors and appraisers have informally told me that my case is a slam-dunk and nobody is using any of this land anyway and the city will just give it to me if I ask. I've been calling city agencies for a week, and all I get at each city agency is a new phone number for another city agency.
Since the assessor records are obviously out-of-date, I may already own this land, but I'd be hard pressed to prove it. Either way, I'd like to make official what's been going on for 30 years anyway.
Our old neighbors also tell us that the triangular lot next to us was offered to the neighbors on the other side, who apparently declined. This triangular lot is owned by the Los Angeles Flood Control District. If nobody wants it, I'd like to extend my garden out that direction. Maybe I can make something nice where weeds are growing now.
So where do I go, who do I ask, what will it take?What is the name of your state?