Bountry Disputes 
By Jim Palmer Jr.

Some property owners are alarmingly indifferent about dealing with boundary disputes or encroachments, as if they can pass such a problem on to the next buyer with no regrets.  Maybe they think that they have lived with it for so many years that a new buyer can live with it too!  That would be much like the cancer victim that refuses to go to the doctor, thinking that if he doesn’t know about it then the problem doesn’t exist.  This cavalier attitude could cause a costly mistake which may come back to bite when they least expect it. 

I wish that a simple handshake would be honored today as it was in the past, such as in a verbal boundary line agreement between neighbors, but we live in a different world now!   The precision of new surveying technology has made some of these informal agreements more difficult to tolerate, since it is easier to define exactly where a boundary line should be.  Because of this technology and litigious attitudes of our modern day society, buyers are less likely to accept a situation that is unclear or undefined, or disputed.

In one situation, it was brought to a seller’s attention that their driveway and garage were probably on someone else’s property.  Their agent discovered this discrepancy by accessing available aerial photos.   The seller scoffed at this discovery as if it wasn’t a big deal, when they probably should have been concerned and taken immediate steps to find out for sure, so that a solution could be found sooner, rather than later, when it could cost them a sale.
In another situation one of the conditions of sale for a large timbered parcel was that the seller would mark and identify the boundary lines.  This was to be accomplished by a surveyor prior to closing.  A few days before closing it was revealed to the new buyer that the old fence lines that surrounded the property were nowhere near the real boundary lines and the surveyor had marked the real boundary lines with ribbons.  The buyer was satisfied and closed the deal even though they knew that the adjoining property owner may become agitated by this revelation.  A domino effect of controversy began when the neighbor discovered the new ribbons, and now the ripples of litigation have reached back in time to four previous owners. 

If you are aware of any potential disputes or possible encroachment issues with your property, you should seek the advice of an experienced real estate consultant and take action now!

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