Re: Property Boundary

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Don't post here anymore.

On 9/12/08, Vincent M. Smith wrote:
> 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"].
>>