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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Posts
    1

    Default Can a Building Wall be a Common Wall Even if There's No Building on the Other Side

    My question involves real estate located in the State of: Minnesota
    I own a business that is next to an undeveloped lot with no building on it. The owner of that lot claims that the wall of my building that is on that side is a common wall. Can it even be a common wall if he has no structure sharing the wall of my building? How do I resolve whether this is a common wall or not? Thanks!
    John

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    7,056

    Default Re: Common Wall

    It will depend on where the common wall of your building is. Is that wall on the property boundary line? If it is, it may be a boundary wall. The wall doesn't have to be a common wall between two adjacent buildings.

    You will have to share some more specific facts.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Can a Buidling Wall be a Common Wall Even if There's No Building on the Other Sid

    In modern construction, a party wall on a boundary line is unusual. However, historically it was much more common for two buildings on either side of the property line to share a common, party wall. When that occurs, the demolition of one building will necessarily involve leaving the common wall intact, or an agreement by which it is replaced, repaired or restored, as it is necessary to the continued use and function of the adjacent building -- but that demolition does not necessarily remove the neighboring property's right to use the wall as a party wall in the event of future construction.

    As budwad indicates, an analysis of your neighbor's rights will require more facts than are available to us.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    El Dorado County, CA
    Posts
    395

    Default Re: Can a Buidling Wall be a Common Wall Even if There's No Building on the Other Sid

    Some of the facts to consider:

    When was your building constructed?

    Was there ever a building on the now vacant lot?

    If so, was that building attached to the building your business is in?

    Are there any architectural or site construction plans for your building and lot still existing? If you don't have them, check with your local city or county (depending whether you are within city limits) planning/building/community development agency.

    Whether or not the wall is a common or party wall is a separate question from the boundary location, although the boundary location may be a consideration on the adjoining landowners right (if it exists) to attach a new building to your building. Similarly, local building and zoning codes may allow for construction of a new building joined to an existing one and remaining a separate unit, but if the property right to do so does not exist, then such construction is not an option without the permission of the owner of the existing building. You need to look into the title question of whether that right exists.

    Many old downtown business and shopping areas have a block or several blocks where the adjacent buildings are or appear to be joined by a common wall. In some instances, the buildings on adjacent lots may each have been built with a "zero" setback. That is, built right up to the property line. At a glance or sometimes even a cursory inspection, the buildings appear to share a wall, but actually are completely separate. When first built, there will generally be a small gap between them, but years of settling may cause any gap to close up.

    In my town, I can walk down a single block and find many examples of buildings actually sharing walls, many which are separate but either touching or nearly touching, and a few which were built separately but have a façade in place to cover the gap and give the appearance of a continuous building. Some of these buildings date back to the late 1840s, and only a few are less than 100 years old in the 3 blocks that make up our downtown business area.

    In some cases, particular building rights and restrictions might be described on a subdivision map of the area. Some such areas just sort of sprang up without any official subdivision map or plan made until several years after most of the lots had been occupied. Others were laid out, sold, and developed in an orderly fashion according to a map made and lots staked prior to sale and development. Check with your County Clerk/Recorder's Office or your County Surveyor's Office. If the map was made prior to your state's subdivision recording act, it may or may not be found in the County's Official Records kept by the Clerk/Recorder. If the map is that old and the Clerk/Recorder does not have it, the County Surveyor may have a copy, or the City Surveyor/Engineer may have a copy.

    If you have a copy of the Title Report for your property, read through the Exceptions to Coverage (usually Schedule B) to see if any of the enumerated items mention any such rights. If you still have questions about whether such a right exists, talk to a local Title Insurance company about searching public records to see if there are any that describe building rights or restrictions relevant to these lots.

    Until you have the info to answer the title question of whether a right exists to join a new building to your existing one, neither the building/zoning code question nor the boundary question will have much meaning.

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