When Neighbors Encroach



by Adam Ciboch


You might find it difficult to believe that boundary mistakes can be make when it comes to your property. The tiniest of differences can accurately be distinguished with property assessment tools and computer technology. Despite all this technology, your neighbor's newest building project might still be built over property lines. That's where encroachment laws come in.

Encroachment is a legal concept found in property law where a piece of property from one landowner's parcel of land hangs over into another landowner's property line. The actual structure doing the encroaching can be almost anything. Trees, a fence, part of a building structure or virtually any other fixture could be the culprit. Whatever the case, the object is taking up space on two pieces of property when it only has a legal right to be on one.

Sometimes encroachments happen purposefully. If you and your neighbor don't get along, you can probably easily see how this might be the case. In other instances, it's a governmental encroachment, given legal authority by a zoning law or permit.

You have a few options available to you if you encounter encroachment onto your property. The first thing you can try is to be tactful. You can always ask for rent on the portion of your land being encroached or, in the alternative, just simply ask your neighbor to remove the object. If the encroaching landowner is unaware of the encroachment, they may very well be willing to comply to rectify the problem. You could also choose to sell the land being encroached upon to your neighbor, as well. Seeking a court order could also solve the problem if you're unsuccessful.

You should also note that many countries choose to use adverse possession laws to deal with encroachments. The encroachment being open and notorious is just one of the criteria that needs to be met and can be if the lawful owner of the land does not do anything within a certain period of time. You also need to keep these laws in mind if you haven't done anything to remove the unacceptable encroachment. The best way to deal with an encroachment, by and far, is to speak with the landowner who is encroaching to come to a successful resolution, though.




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