# Property line dispute???????



## Harbuck (Mar 12, 2010)

i bought a home almost a year ago in carroll county and recently had a survey done. the survey showed that about 1/2 of the empty house beside me is on our property. from the info i've seen at the court house, the house was moved there in about 2004 and the owner continues to refuse to move it or tare it down even though he owns a house moving and demo company. So my question is what are my rights and what dose the law say about this type of thing should I sue him or can i sue him and have him remove it? the owners father is a very rich Dr. and owns alot of property here in carroll co. and I can't seem to get a local lawyer to help me or even talk to me once they find out who owns the property. What can / should I do legally to handle this?


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## John Cooper (Mar 13, 2010)

Yes you can take them to court and make them 1. either move the house or 2. they would have to buy the land it sit's on from you. That is if GA. law hasn't change since i worked for a survey company back in the early 80's. You need to find a lawyer who knows what he is doing even if you have to go to someone who is not local.


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## c400bronco (Mar 13, 2010)

If you purchased title insurance at your closing to cover yourself, It is mandatory that you buy it to cover the mortgagor, but not for yourself, Call them and let them take care of it. An insurance co. has  better lawyers than any doctor in carroll cty.


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## hikingthehills (Mar 13, 2010)

Cut the house in half on the property line and haul your half off! Problem solved


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## Ballplayer (Mar 13, 2010)

I know hind sight is 20/20 regarding having a survey now instead of prior to your purchase so go outside your county and hire a lawyer( they need work too ). This is still America and in "MOST" cases the law falls on the right side whether your the richest man in town or the poorest. Also time can be an enemy against you so don't put it off.


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## FishingAddict (Mar 13, 2010)

What ever you do, hurry to get it removed.

If someone puts a structure on your property with out your permssion, and you know about it, and it's there for more than (I think 7 years, but it may be more or less), the land that the structure sits on becomes THEIRS legally...it's called squatter's rights.


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## jason4445 (Mar 13, 2010)

The legal term is adverse possession.  To learn about it search Georgia's adverse possession law.  It is quite involved and mostly deals with mineral rights, however, here it is briefly.

In Georgia, the duration of such possession is seven (7) years under color of title and twenty (20) years in other cases.  Georgia Code §44-5-163, 164.

Also you will need to look up color of title.

You, at present times, cannot do anything to the physical structure, you will have to go to court for an order to have it removed, and if it is challenged prepare to spend at least five years and most likely way more than the land is worth to your (out of town)  lawyers.

I was a witness in a land ownership dispute and it did not even make it to a real court, just a Grand Master's hearing and it took 18 months for a decision to be handed down, and that was after two years of motions and depositions.


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## jimbo4116 (Mar 13, 2010)

FishingAddict said:


> What ever you do, hurry to get it removed.
> 
> If someone puts a structure on your property with out your permssion, and you know about it, and it's there for more than (I think 7 years, but it may be more or less), the land that the structure sits on becomes THEIRS legally...it's called squatter's rights.



I will go out on limb on that one. A person who has notoriously used a property and paid the taxes on a property can file for title on that property after 7 years.  Does not guarantee you will receive the title, a judge has to issue a ruling after hearing all sides of the case.  But they could possibly receive some type of prescriptive easement if you wait to long. 

The best thing to do is take your plat and all information to an attorney in a neighboring county if necessary.  But I can't imagine the the owner has not made at least one attorney in town mad. If you have title insurance call them as well.


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## Milkman (Mar 13, 2010)

Send them a bill for rent/storage for however long you have owned it.  If they dont pay then you should pursue legal action, If  they pay,  you win.


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## Coweta Redneck (Mar 14, 2010)

Hire an experienced REAL ESTATE attorney. Your surveyor might know a good one. Check your closing papers to see if you purchased an owners policy for title insurance. If so, call them. They would get the ball rolling.

Adverse possession is real hard to prove, they would have to know it was over the line (hence the term adverse). You would have more to worry about with a claimed prescriptive easement has been established. 

If you can, document how long the house has been there and occupied continuously. This will be important for a claim on their part for a prescriptive easement.

Whatever you do, get started now. The clock is ticking...


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## chadf (Mar 14, 2010)

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=196163


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## SpringfieldChampion (Mar 14, 2010)

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=196163


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## Ole Fuzzy (Mar 14, 2010)

There is a way to handle it  through an action to quiet title and ejectment, and sue for "mesne profits" (pronounced main profits).  What the foregoing means is that one can force another to tear down or move an encroaching structure as a remedy and pursue money for use of the property in the interim. You can also pursue the recovery of fees, and if you advise them of the detail of a survey and they do nothing, then that would help an argument to recover.

Writing the title company and providing a copy of the survey is a good idea, but there is so many exemptions and exclusions that it may not be forced to take it on.  It depends on what type of policy it is.  Do you know whether you purchased an owner's policy when you bought the property?

It can be troublesome and expensive, but how will you sell the property if an when the time comes if you have encroachments and resulting infirmities of title?  A subsequent survey or maybe even visual inspection would likely pick it up and hinder a closing.  Alternately, if it were not, and the buyer took the property via a warranty deed, you would be forced to defend the title as the one making the warranties of title.

If none of the attorneys there want to do it, you need to go to an adjoining county.  You may want to get someone that practices in the circuit that is known to the judges and has perhaps donated to their campaigns.  That circuit rotates judges, or it did the last time I had a case there. The circuit includes Coweta County, so you may want someone from Newnan.


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## Coweta Redneck (Mar 14, 2010)

I'll bet an owners policy won't help, now that I think it over.

You bought the house about a year ago and just recently had the survey done. They won't help, there would be a survey exception on the policy due to not having a survey completed at the time of the transaction.

If you try to contact them, do it by registered mail and keep a copy of what you send. But you need an attorney.


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## Streetsweeper (Mar 14, 2010)

Being that you have not owned it almost a year, I don't think you will have an issue. You have a "plat" of your land go down to the title office and show them what is going on. I would contact, my real estate agent, closing attorney, pretty much everybody that was involved with the purchase and get them involved. They of all people should have known "especially the seller"  what was going on! Eitherway I would get on it quick. Not sure, I always thought when you mortgage a home the "bank" requires a survey? If thats the case you need to compare the two, somebody has let something slip by them.........Good Luck!


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