We purchased a home 15 years ago that had an unmarked property line near the house (within 10 feet). The house was built by the previous owners and when they built the home they also cleared the land (wooded lot) and put in a lawn. No permission was ever obtained from the adjacent owners and the township inspectors never mentioned it. The lawn extended over the property line by approx. 20 feet. They maintained the lawn and subsequently we have been maintaining the lawn ever since. We have the contacted the owners of the adjacent property over the years with offers to purchase but they never took us seriously. We have since built a deck and retaining wall that now extend over the property line. We just received a notice that the owners of the adjacent property are selling and a developers is putting in a huge subdivision and they had a survey done which indicates we are encroaching with the deck and they have given us 30 days to remove the wall and encroachment. In Michigan I believe, 15 years is the statute of limitations on eviction of real estate trespass. While their lawyer talks about encroachment of structures over the line, he has never mentioned that the our "lawn" encroaches. Does our mowing, fertilizing, raking of leaves together with the previous owners meet any requirement for adverse possesion? Do we have any rights here? We want to buy the property but the owner is now got $$ in his eyes because of the developer. The owners have never questioned our use of the land.

