Boundary question, encroachment on my land by neighbor.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know how long a person can encroach on your land before they claim it?
My fence is slightly (2-3 feet) inside of my property line in MoCo.
My neighbor has just started to put things in that corner like a wood pile and so on. Since he knows that the fence is a few feet inside my property line, I suspect that he plans to claim the land at some point.
I will be doing a boundary survey sometime soon when I get the money. Is it sufficient to ask him to move his stuff and add another inexpensive fence outside the original (better quality) fence?

[Anonymous]

People can claim your land? That makes no sense, what if you had no fence at all? I need to start buying piles of wood....

[Anonymous]

i wonder if op is talking about eminent domain?

[Anonymous]

I think it is usually 10 yrs of open and "hostile" use of the land of another. BUT, all property law is state based, so unless you look into your state's laws, nothing anyone says on here will be accurate. If you give your neighbor permission to use tha

It spot, it does NOT count toward the 10 years.

No, this is not "eminent domain" -- that is when a government entity takes title to your land and pays you for it.

OP is talking about "adverse possession".

[Anonymous]

typo

... If you give your neighbor permission to use that spot, it does not count toward the 10 years ...

[Anonymous]

Just looked it up. 20 years in MD.

http://baylawllc.com/maryland-adverse-possession/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i wonder if op is talking about eminent domain?

No, adverse possession. Depends on jurisdiction and common law (20 years in MD) but would only work if OP is not claiming the land. OP, send a letter to your neighbor telling them of the boundary. How do you know of the encroachment? Was a survey done?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i wonder if op is talking about eminent domain?

No, adverse possession. Depends on jurisdiction and common law (20 years in MD) but would only work if OP is not claiming the land. OP, send a letter to your neighbor telling them of the boundary. How do you know of the encroachment? Was a survey done?

I am quite sure of the boundary based on the plat. BTW, the fence may be inside our property line by as much as 5 feet. We put up the fence quickly because of deer and my son's basketball court. It is a strong tall fence. The minute I told him that the fence was inside our property line, he went and moved his logs up to the fence and now I see some other things being stored there.
The real survey will clarify the line.

[Anonymous]

I wonder about this too. It is normal to put your fence up inside the property line, so there aren't disputes, but what about that land all around? I would like to plant some narrow trees outside our fence, along it, for instance.

[Anonymous]

Somewhat related question... I have a cabin in WV. The community has a HOA and there's a horse trail between my property and my neighbor's property (the horse trail is 5' into my property and 5"into his property from the property line). I planted trees on my side of (like 10's into my property from the property line) to get more privacy. Now, my neighbor's been mowing his property and 10' into my property. Can he claim his land one of these days??

[Anonymous]

Each state/jurisdiction should change their laws to eliminate adverse possession.

There is no need for this approach in modern America.

[Anonymous]

What is it with white men encroaching into others’ property?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Somewhat related question... I have a cabin in WV. The community has a HOA and there's a horse trail between my property and my neighbor's property (the horse trail is 5' into my property and 5"into his property from the property line). I planted trees on my side of (like 10's into my property from the property line) to get more privacy. Now, my neighbor's been mowing his property and 10' into my property. Can he claim his land one of these days??

Don't know about WV law, but generally adverse possession would require more than that.

[Anonymous]

pp - for example that neighbor put up a fence which encroaches your line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Somewhat related question... I have a cabin in WV. The community has a HOA and there's a horse trail between my property and my neighbor's property (the horse trail is 5' into my property and 5"into his property from the property line). I planted trees on my side of (like 10's into my property from the property line) to get more privacy. Now, my neighbor's been mowing his property and 10' into my property. Can he claim his land one of these days??

Don't know about WV law, but generally adverse possession would require more than that.

What would you recommend I do to make sure this doesn't happen?