Property line dispute
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Property line dispute
In November of 2017 I received a letter of encroachment from an attorney saying my
fence was on my neighbour’s property. Now in March they finally had a survey team come
out and mark the property lines, it does not match up with the lines we were shown when
we bought the house. We have lived here for 7 years and the fence was up 3-4 years
before we bought the house, according to our other neighbors. The property markings
show that my fence is over by 8 foot or so and that their driveway is on my property.
The attorney assured us that it is not. We also have an in-ground pool that would possibly
need to relocate the pump and filter and running new lines. The attorney said for me to
get an estimate and she would see if her clients would help cover the cost to move the
pump. What do you recommend?
Asked on March 22, 2018 under Real Estate Law, Georgia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
1) Hire your own surveyors to confirm this--without accusing your neighbors or their surveyors of any impropriety, you don't want to be making a potentially expensive decision (resulting in either moving a fence or pool equipment or getting involved in litigation) based solely on what the other person says.
2) If the survey is correct, you are best off negotiating with them about costs and/or some adjustment to boundaries. If their driveway does appear to be on your land, that gives you leverage in negotiations--another reason you want to hire your own surveyors to confirm what goes where.
3) If your survey disagrees with their survey, share the results with them. You can then either decide to try to work something out (see 2, above) if you want, or if you choose to stand your ground and just say "no", you can do so with more confidence, possessed of evidence you could use in any resulting litigation.
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