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Boundary dispute
I bought the property and house 9 years ago. The property had been split contrary to a local covenant specifying 1/3 of an acre minimum. I did not know of the covenant, and was not informed of it at the time. In 2004, a dispute arose over a spec builder wanting to build on less than the minimum acreage. At that time, we were informed that the covenant is enforceable. The builders conceded. However, I found out that I had less than the required minimum of acreage. As the status quo remained with respect to my neighbor, I did not persue the mattter, He has now sold the property and this 10 feet which he illegally abandoned has become an issue between my new neighbor and me. This is not a concern of the county. They are tearing down a pool house and a garage at my end of the property, and will exacerbate the situation by claiming that the new boundary line runs in the middle of my trees. They think that they can cut down my trees. As an accomodating gesture to a new neighbor, I allowed them to come on my property to trim the offending limbs and branches, as they were hanging over their fence and the leaves were falling into their pool. They are now trying to claim that they can take them down completely. They have torn down the pool house and are about to tear down the garage. Before they bring those structures any closer to my property, do I have any recourse with respect to reclaiming the true boundary line? If I have to accept this new boundary, despite the fact that it is contrary to the local restriction, can I at the very least prevent them from adding insult to injury with respect to the trees, and perhaps a new fence that will in effect rub against the trees? I was willing to accept the status quo, but they will not accomodate. By the way, it would be nigh impossible to remove the trees without coming on to my property, as the equipment needed to do the job would have to go through their pool on their side of the fence.
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Do you hold title to the disputed strip of land? Or does your neighbor?
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title question
With respect to the title, my new neighbor holds the title. However, I have been duped twice now by my former neighbor and by the original owner of the house. They did not reveal the existence of the local covenant at that time, and I can only assume that he did not inform the new owners of his property about his ruse with respect to me. I am the aggrieved party. I am just trying to establish a legal boundary line that takes these facts into consideration. At the time of closing, the covenant was not brought up, and he may have decieved his attorney, and whoever alters boundary lines within a piece of property for the county by not revealing the local restriction or covenant. Ian kay
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If the property is theirs, they can cut down the trees. However, they cannot trespass on your property without your permission. The county restrictions are not the issue and are immaterial at this point. All that matters is who owns the property by deed.