did they even have exclusive, open, notorious, whatever for 10 years time?
were they under the belief it was their land?
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did they even have exclusive, open, notorious, whatever for 10 years time?
were they under the belief it was their land?
Exclusive? No. We used the property too.
Under the belief? I can't believe how they could think it was and I will say no, in general, based on info I have but I really can't elaborate on why I think that.
If the abutters were using the property like pruning, planting, recreational purposes, putting tools on that side etc - you're going to have a hard time convincing someone you have met the elements of adverse possession. If the abutters have a lawyer, best to get some professional representation to clear up this "cloud" on your/their title.
I must be confused. It seems to me that the OP has stated that he will be losing property, so that would seem the AP is being claimed against him, rather than BY him. He states " The papers we served were very generic and didn't really give any reasons that make sense" so it again seems to be against him for property he (at least thought he) bought.
What exactly do the papers state? I do see that OP is reluctant to go into further detail on some things, but perhaps could clarify what the "papers" say. I'm unclear as to whether there has actually been a suit filed, or if the letter is from an attorney, or just the claimant.
Anybody can sue anyone for anything, I think, but where that can go may be limited.
You are not giving us any timeframe about when you bought this property but is sounds like it wasn't that long ago.
What did/does the seller say about any encroachments, boundary agreements, disputes or recent boundary changes on the Oregon Seller Property Disclosure Statement when you purchased the property?
Oregon added the following statement to the Seller Representation section of the OREF sale agreement forms:
One would think that any dispute would have come to light between the previous owners and the neighbor.Quote:
•Seller knows of no material discrepancies between visible lines of possession and use (such as existing fences, hedges, landscaping, structures, driveways, and other such improvements) currently existing on the Property offered for sale and the legal description of the Property.
You may have some recourse against the seller and your title insurance company.
Rigel,
Your being a bit elliptical so its hard for people here to render an opinion. From what you have explained, I'm going to infer that your neighbor recently became aware that land they believed to be theirs turns out to have been located on your property. This information most likely came about because of the recent sale of the land (to you). Perrhaps a survey was done that showed the property corners, or other information was made available to them. In any case, its not at all surprising that this would come up as part of a recent sales transaction.
The requirements of an adverse possession claim have been explained above, and it seems as though your neighbor or their attorney feels like they have at least a fair chance at prevailing. You now have to look at this objectively and deal with it. As was already stated, there are no guarantees about what could happen in court, so you confidence is misplaced at this point, unless you know details that you haven't shared.
Good luck with this!
Well, the neighbors attorney believes s/he has a fair chance at a paycheck. What odds he would give for the neighbor prevailing may be anywhere from near zero percent chance to near 100% chance. He is working by the hour so I suspect he is willing to spend every penny the neighbr
or has trying to win their case.