Couple loses land to squatter's rights law

That is soooo not right!!! It is just wrong!

 

completely neglecting land for 20 years certainly is wrong! If your property line neighbors can't be bothered to mow or maintain, then the squatters rules are a great recourse.

 

It's a dogy ,dog world

 

They bought it, they owned it, they paid taxes. They Iet the land lay idle. It was their choice to let the land lay idle. There is no law that says you MUST build, plow or do anything to the land. Nor to any of your possessions. Otherwise I could come and take your car that you neglect while you're on the road in your truck.


It was theft plain and simple by a couple who had the free use of their friend's land for years and didn't wish to give it up. The law should be done away with. period.

 

We had neighbors who constantly mowed over into our yard and were even planning on planting new grass and had someone out there marking off part of our yard for their grass. I hired a surveyor and found out that our property actually went all the way over to just under the east edge of their roof. I told them, if you dig up our yard, I'll have part of your roof removed because it's over our property. Needless to say they didn't plant the new grass.

 

When we moved into our house, our macadam driveway was angled... and at the top, it extended about three feet into the neighbor's property. Several years later, the neighbor complained about it to us, and although the driveway had been that way since the house was built (long before we moved in), we opted to alter the driveway rather than claim squatter's rights and alienate our neighbors.

Similarly, on the other side of the property, that neighbor planted trees several feet inside his property line. With the trees fully grown, there remains about three feet of grass on his property... and initially I cut it while mowing our yard. He was over in a flash... and advised me NOT to cut HIS three feet. We no longer do. (We don't dare TOUCH those three feet! )

What struck me as funny (but infuriated my husband at the time), the neighbor's son used to come over when we were in our backyard and sit within the three feet and watch us. He was not, however, allowed to come into our yard without his mother's permission... so we'd be outside playing with our kids while this kid remained within their three feet.

Needless to say, there are surveyor's stakes at each corner of the property. And although we don't socialize much, we do get along with both. Property lines are a sore subject, though, in this little string of homes... and it was a real shock to me, having grown up next to a farm where no one knew where the property lines were. Sheesh...

 

I went through this problem a few years ago. A neighbor liked my land so much she started putting in wood chips and mowing it.

I knew she was trying to takeover my property. She kept saying that half my yard was hers!

I had owned the house before she moved in. I contacted my home owners group and showed them our survey papers and asked them to politely stop landscaping my yard!

They put up a fence in their yard that runs between the properties (probably embarrassed) and now their are no problems, but she still has an attitude!

Yes I live in a house on private land that I own that has a home owners association. I did not need a lawyer.

If I ever buy land again I will make sure I know exactly what is mine and care for it.