Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 36
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Posts
    9

    Default Neighbor Has Claimed My Front Yard, What Options Do I Have

    My question involves real estate located in the State of: PENNSYLVANIA

    My neighbor has claimed he owns half of my front yard and has installed metal spikes and rope along this new boundary. He is dumping manure, tearing up the soil, and digging on "his" new land. I pulled a copy of the deed registered at the county courthouse and survey, all showing that this is clearly my property. When I approached him calmly to resolve, he lost his temper. He showed me a "map" which he pulled from the county tax assessment office and hand marked up new boundaries, claiming this is somehow legit. He is stating it is his word against mine and that I need to hire an attorney.

    I called the township police, who said this is a boundary dispute and that I need to go through the court system. I've contacted a real estate attorney and have an appointment scheduled, but it is staggering to me that nothing can be done in the interim. How is this not trespassing such that the police can remove him? What is to prevent him from destroying the property by the time the issue is resolved in the courts? It feels like we are powerless.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Posts
    4,301

    Default Re: Neighbor Has Claimed My Front Yard, What Options Do I Have

    Nothing will stop him from destroying your property. But you can sue for damages which would be the cost to correct all damages and anything else he has changed.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    7,056

    Default Re: Neighbor Has Claimed My Front Yard, What Options Do I Have

    Tax map records are not legally binding on property disputes. Do you mean that he showed you a GIS map overlay from the county tax assessment office website? GIS overlays are not accurate as to where a boundary line is. They are for informational purposes only.

    Boundary disputes are a civil matter and unless you have an enforceable court order, the police will tell you it is a civil matter and do nothing to help you eject the trespasser.

    When is your appointment with the attorney? If it is sometime out, you can send your neighbor a certified letter stating that he is trespassing and will be held accountable for any damage to your property. That you have retained an attorney and he should cease and desist until such time the dispute is resolved.

    In the mean time, take pictures of all his activities and start writing down every thing he says or does.

    How much land is involved?

    Quote Quoting PayrolGuy
    View Post
    Nothing will stop him from destroying your property. But you can sue for damages which would be the cost to correct all damages and anything else he has changed.
    It's not as simple to say that as it is to do it. First, OP will have to prove where his boundary is with a survey. Then he has to go to court to eject the trespasser restore his property and recover.

    You make it sound like a walk in the park which it isn't.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Posts
    9

    Default Re: Neighbor Has Claimed My Front Yard, What Options Do I Have

    Thanks for the insight. Yes it is a GIS map overlay. I told him that is info use only (it even says so on the map printout). The person is not exactly rational.

    We have around 4 acres, but the area he cut off from our house is probably 1/3 to 1/2 acre. A survey was done with survey markers installed in 1994 encased in concrete. He has removed the ones along our property boundary.

    The appointment with the attorney is next Monday (6/25). I have taken some photos but will start documenting everything religiously.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    38,867

    Default Re: Neighbor Has Claimed My Front Yard, What Options Do I Have

    Since you state he has removed surveyors markers, call the police back and cite them this law

    section 18
    § 3312. Destruction of a survey monument.
    (a) Offense defined.--
    (1) A person commits a summary offense if he intentionally cuts, injures, damages, destroys, defaces or removes any survey monument or marker, other than a natural object such as a tree or stream.
    (2) A person commits a misdemeanor of the second degree if he willfully or maliciously cuts, injures, damages, destroys, defaces or removes any survey monument or marker in order to call into question a boundary line.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    144

    Default Re: Neighbor Has Claimed My Front Yard, What Options Do I Have

    The other thing you can do today is you can contact the GIS office for your county (or whomever maintains it), give them a copy of the survey, and ask them to fix the lines.

    There is a chance the lines are in the right location, and you are misreading something. They'll explain it to you if that is the case, and it doesn't cost anything. Or they can go fix their lines.

    The GIS lines won't get fixed today, but if you are lucky and write as an inquisitive citizen (not like you are in the middle of a property dispute with a neighbor) they might write back to you today.

    OH, from my experience GIS lines are actually highly accurate as to where property boundaries are, as long as the GIS operator drew them correctly.

    The process for drawing GIS lines are as follows:

    1) Property owner has a survey performed and records a certificate of survey (or deed exhibit) with the county.

    2) GIS department reads the recorded survey and draws lines based on surveyor's dimensions on certificate of survey.

    In the case of the OP, the survey that was done in 1994 may not have been recorded with the county. If not, it can't be used as the basis for GIS lines. In this case, the question would be what authority (certificate of survey) was the county using, and why does that authority show property lines in a different location than the 1994 survey?

    The OP can do some research on this if he/she desires.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    211

    Default Re: Neighbor Has Claimed My Front Yard, What Options Do I Have

    You can also.....

    Undo or haul off anything you don't like him doing. Load up the manure and take it elsewhere. Plant big heavy rocks and stones, or cement blocks. He will probably pick them up. He may walk out there and slug you. Make sure you have a camera ready - he surely can be arrested for that. If he plants anything, spray weed killer on it. I know, this isn't the "legal" recourse you are looking for, but sometimes fighting fire with fire is justified. Just be sure you don't start the physical fight. Of course, if he is that irrational, he may come out with a gun too. I wouldn't do this - I would have the lawyer you hired send him a letter and proceed from there - but thought I would throw some ideas out there.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    144

    Default Re: Neighbor Has Claimed My Front Yard, What Options Do I Have

    He should not do anything at the moment. The appointment is on Monday and there is nothing legal that the neighbor can do this weekend that can't be undone later.

    I would strongly encourage some additional property research today. It will save the attorney time (saving the OP money) and might resolve the issue more easily.

    In particular, I am very confused why the GIS line showing the property boundary was in a widely inaccurate location. GIS lines aren't drawing by kindergarteners with etch-a-sketches. They're drawn by experts who are skilled at reading deeds, surveys, and the like, and the computing systems used show the lines to highly accurate dimensions.

    While they aren't legal per se, the lines should be pretty darn accurate. When I've compared the lines to aerial photographs, they were always accurate to within a reasonable degree of accuracy (less than 5' and often about 1' to 2'). So if a line is 50' away from where a person thinks it should be, there is more to story that we don't know.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Posts
    9

    Default Re: Neighbor Has Claimed My Front Yard, What Options Do I Have

    Quote Quoting bigtrees
    View Post
    He should not do anything at the moment. The appointment is on Monday and there is nothing legal that the neighbor can do this weekend that can't be undone later.

    I would strongly encourage some additional property research today. It will save the attorney time (saving the OP money) and might resolve the issue more easily.

    In particular, I am very confused why the GIS line showing the property boundary was in a widely inaccurate location. GIS lines aren't drawing by kindergarteners with etch-a-sketches. They're drawn by experts who are skilled at reading deeds, surveys, and the like, and the computing systems used show the lines to highly accurate dimensions.

    While they aren't legal per se, the lines should be pretty darn accurate. When I've compared the lines to aerial photographs, they were always accurate to within a reasonable degree of accuracy (less than 5' and often about 1' to 2'). So if a line is 50' away from where a person thinks it should be, there is more to story that we don't know.
    Excellent points, thank you. I can't comment on why the GIS map is inaccurate other than in 1995, some of the property lines were re-drawn when we sold off approximately 1 acre of our land. My assumption is that the neighbor is operating under the old property lines from GIS.

    So far today, I've done the following:

    1. Got a copy of the deed from the courthouse
    2. Received a "plot plan" from the township which shows an Engineering Drawing of the plot supporting our case.
    3. I took the deed description (coordinates) and entered them into CAD and overlaid on Google Maps, which lines up exactly to where I believed the property lines to be.
    4. Sent a certified letter stating that we have a lawyer on retainer and to cease and desist.

    Is there anything else I can be doing to save money or boost our case?

    In parallel, I have also made contact with our title insurance company. I'm hoping that I can file a post-closing claim and that they might cover cost to settle the dispute (e.g., surveying fee and/or legal fees). Not sure how typical this is.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    7,056

    Default Re: Neighbor Has Claimed My Front Yard, What Options Do I Have

    Quote Quoting bigtrees
    View Post

    In particular, I am very confused why the GIS line showing the property boundary was in a widely inaccurate location. GIS lines aren't drawing by kindergarteners with etch-a-sketches. They're drawn by experts who are skilled at reading deeds, surveys, and the like, and the computing systems used show the lines to highly accurate dimensions.
    GIS databases that are provided without cost are know to be highly unreliable. They can be 15 to 30% off the mark with respect to boundary lines. A property line overlay on a map does not take into consideration the topography of the land. The tax map overlays are just that. They take the flat tax map and overlay it on the satellite image. It is not drawn on the image according to metes and bounds deed descriptions.

    1. Sponsored Links
       

Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Copyright Law: Recordings Who Owns What Rights from My Front Yard
    By kbon in forum Intellectual Property
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 08-29-2017, 06:16 AM
  2. Fences and Walls: Neighbor Complains That a New Front Yard Concrete Wall Fence Blocks Their View
    By Bluefish858 in forum Real Estate Ownership and Title
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: 08-18-2015, 02:55 PM
  3. Nuisance: Neighbor's Yard Looks Like a Junk Yard with an Old Bus
    By etf in forum Real Estate Ownership and Title
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 04-08-2013, 04:54 PM
  4. Easement Use and Enforcement: Utility or Cable Lines Across Front Yard
    By gregandrene in forum Real Estate Ownership and Title
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 03-09-2012, 04:27 PM
  5. Trespassing: Photographing a Neighbor's Front Yard
    By TommyC in forum Criminal Charges
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 02-17-2011, 03:52 PM
 
 
Sponsored Links

Legal Help, Information and Resources