Neighbor's Non-Permitted Deck and Addition is on My Property

[mixedgasdiver]

My question involves real estate located in the State of: Washington

I live on several acres, most of which was not fenced until recently. 3 years ago I noticed my neighbor building a +/-650 sqft addition onto the back of their home. I thought nothing of it until I went over to look once more and saw the 1,100 sqft deck attached to the 650 sqft addition. I spoke with the owner telling her that I believed the deck to be on my property. I went to the county and obtained the survey on record. We measured it the best we could and found that the majority of the deck actually was on my property. She promptly had the majority of the deck removed and we agreed that we would settle on a boundary line adjustment for the remaining 25 sqft that overhung the property line. The idea here is that she would be able to walk all the way around her addition vs. have my fence touch the corner of the structure.

After 3 years of proposals to her I have hit a stone wall. She is unwilling to agree to anything I suggest including buying the small piece of land, trading me for like property, etc. Her statement is that she will "adversely possess it".

I returned to the county and got the building department involved. When I did this, I found that her addition was non-permitted. Since then, she has since received a stop work order on the interior finishing. I had the property line surveyed and found that her eve overhangs the property line by about 10". In addition, about 25 sqft of deck that goes around the corner of the addition also sits on my property. After getting the county building inspectors involved my neighbor will no longer speak with me. Won't answer phone calls, won't answer the door, etc. I want the 25 sqft of deck removed but am hesitant to do it myself as I would have to remove back to the nearest support, not just the portion that overhangs the property line.

I'm half tempted to remove the deck and pay her for the product that I take out. I do not believe she has much financial means in which to fight it. And at that point, she would be fighting to take my property, not retain what she already has. At this point I really don't care about the eve overhang and am willing to let the county run their course with the non-permitted addition.

Thank you and if more clarification is needed I will do my best to answer.

Thanks again.

[LandSurveyor]

I don't think the neighbor is going to be "adversely possessing" any of your property.

You are in the situation of having taken the prudent and reasonable steps in the matter, from discussing it with the neighbor, having a proper survey done, etc.

Now you are facing a stonewalling neighbor and the question is how to proceed. I'd advise against actually removing things yourself. You may be going to court over this and reasonable prior behavior can be seen as constructive and cooperative to a court. I'd recommend, as a next step, that you get with a local attorney and get a letter out to the neighbor.

Good Luck!