Re: Property Boundary

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On 8/20/08, -- wrote:
> On 8/20/08, M Conway wrote:
>> On reparian property, I put an un-used cast iron woodstove
>> in a depression eroded during flooding with plans on
>> filling it in at a later date. I own the property. You
>> can't even see the stove unless you are on my property.
>> One morning I heard a knock on my door. I rose and found
>> my neighbor and his wife standing on my deck. He asked me
>> to follow him, he wanted to show me something. He seemed
>> quite agitated. When we arrived at the eroded depression
>> at the end of my yard he mentioned something to the effect
>> of having concerns about someone falling in the
>> depression, injuring themselves and then suing him. I
>> sleepily made a comment that a person walking along a
>> stream bed on another person's property should be careful
>> and mentioned that it was not his property. After
>> questioning where I believed my property ended and his
>> began he became irate that I would tell him what people
>> will sue for and what they will not (apparently he has
>> been sued in the past). He actually rents his property as
>> a vacation spot to numerous individuals in all seasons.
>> At that he left displeased, never mentioning the stove,
>> which was what I thought he had in mind (would have
>> removed it if he asked).
>>
>> Maybe a year later, he had his property surveyed. Lo and
>> behold, my property extended a full 5-10 feet more toward
>> his rental cottage than he may have anticipated. I
>> noticed, despite the realized boundaries, he continued to
>> mow according to his old erroneous boundary assessement.
>> I asked him if there were any confusion after the survey
>> and he claimed that he was only "doing more" to ensure he
>> was covering his property. I began cutting along the new
>> boundary. I regularly checked that the metal post (rebar)
>> was still flagged and set into the ground every few
>> months. Another year passed. On one occasion, his
>> nephew, cut well into my property, clearly outside of the
>> mower boundaries from the last cut (he probably didn't
>> know). I went to look for the boundary post and it was
>> missing! I asked the neighbor if there was any confusion
>> and he became quite irate and said he had never hand any
>> interest in where our properties begin and end (he also
>> revised the first encounter over the depression - now it
>> was admitted the survey was done to see if I was dumping
>> on his property). Should I worry about his mowing of a
>> portion of my land (adverse possession?). Should I worry
>> about the missing marker?
>>
>> Thanks.
>
> Give him written permission to mow across the property line
> if he wants to (revocable at your discretion of course).
Get
> him to acknowledge your permission note with his signature
or
> have a witness to you giving him permission. Permissive use
> does not count for adverse possession or prescriptive
> easement claims.
>
> A more aggressive tactic would be to put up a string
> barricade along the property line at least once a year with
a
> few little signs that say “private property no access
without
> permission.” Then take a dated photo. If you physically
> restrict access (even with a single length of string) at
> least once a year it will break any claim of continuous,
> unbroken possession or use of the property by
him. “Hostile"
> (open and notorious without permission) use or possession is
> a requirement for adverse possession or prescriptive
easement
> claims.
>
> PS: Frankly I think spelling on a web forum like this is a
> non-issue but we have a spell check nut-job on the forum who
> gets some kind of thrill out of questioning a poster's
> intelligence if they don't spell perfectly. Note the
> generally accepted spelling of ["Riparian"].
>