Neighbor Built His House on Our Property

[Bethlanham]

My question involves real estate located in the State of: North Carolina

We purchased 2.97 acres about 1.5 years ago. Since that purchase, the lot next to us was purchased. The owner of that lot recently placed a trailer on the property. We have a contract for sale on the land with another buyer who paid nearly $600 for a survey. The survey reveals that this trailer is on our property. I'm guessing our legal recourse is to ask him to remove the trailer and place it on his own property. Obviously, we cannot close on the land sale until this situation is remedied. If he refuses to remove the trailer or purchase our lot for what we contracted with another buyer to pay, what is our legal recourse? Obviously if he won't move the trailer and we can't close the land deal, the purchaser stands to recover his losses as well. Fortunately this is a double wide trailer and not a stick built house, which makes it easier to remove, however, the guy will still have to have another foundation dug to move his trailer. The lot sale was supposed to closed next Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. Just seeking some advice. Thanks.

[mudpie]

Obviously, the trailer will not be moved my next week. You need a lawyer asap. Most likely, your neighbor will make an offer to buy the land under his trailer if it is proven not to be his. Of course, you can ask him to move it.

Since we are not lawyers, we only can guess what the outcome would be. If it were me, I would force him to move it, and pay for my lawyers and the value of the lost real estate deal.

I would also send a letter, certified return receipt, to the neighbor advising him to move his trailer by next week or be liable for damages. You may also consider a police complaint for trespassing.

But hey, you have to live with him as a neighbor...

I wonder if the neighbor had a survey done and does it match your survey???

[LandSurveyor]

I don't know of anyone who could do a 2.97 acre boundary survey for $600.

It may be something else. Do you have a copy of it? It should have the signature and seal of a North Carolina Professional Land Surveyor, and should not have something mentioning "for mortgage loan purposes" or similar. Also, anything containing the word "preliminary" would be suspect.

I'm not disputing the survey- I haven't seen it. But you should take a good look at it before you take any other action.