You’re probably familiar with the saying “Good fences make good neighbors.” While this is just an expression meant to imply that a good neighbor respects the property of others, it does bring to mind situations that can cause legal conflicts and disputes between property owners.
For instance, what if your neighbor’s fence is installed over your property line? Or part of their garage crosses onto your property and a large tree branch extends over it? These scenarios are known as encroachments, and they can lead to headaches such as title problems and potential liability for homeowners.
Encroachment happens when a property owner violates the property rights of his or her neighbor by building on or extending a structure to the neighbor’s land or property. Encroachments can be intentional or unintentional — such as when property lines are disputed and a person deliberately violates his neighbor’s boundaries, or when a property owner is not aware of her boundaries and unknowingly encroaches upon them.
That said, the single best way to avoid encroachment issues is to understand where your property starts and ends. This is achieved by obtaining a professional land survey, which will map out the land’s shape and boundaries and verify your property lines. Your mortgage lender may not require a land survey prior to closing, but property owners should request a survey prior to closing and can at any time.
How to Resolve Property Encroachments
If left unresolved, encroachments can result in a host of problems, so it’s important to address the matter as soon as possible. A minor issue like an overhanging tree branch may not seem like a big deal when you buy your home. However, it could have more of an impact when you decide to sell it. Encroachments can also result in a decreased sale price and make it difficult to establish property lines, therefore causing title issues.
In addition, with encroachments come the potential for liability issues. For example, if your neighbor’s tree hangs over your property and it falls during a thunderstorm and damages a car parked in your driveway, the liability could be yours, even though the tree belongs to your neighbor.
Although there’s no “one size fits all” solution to resolving a real estate encroachment, there are steps you can take to resolve the property dispute.
These include:
- Talk with your neighbor. Many encroachment issues can easily be settled by means of a friendly conversation in which you share your concerns with your neighbor. Perhaps they’d be more than happy to adjust their fence or trim their overgrown hedges.
- Sell an easement or some of your land to your neighbor. Selling an easement to your neighbor would give them the legal right to use your property for a specific purpose (read our previous blog post about easements here). If your mortgage lender agrees, you could alternatively sell the affected piece of land to your neighbor, giving them ownership rights.
- As a last resort, take your neighbor to court. If you’ve spoken with your neighbor and they’re not willing to resolve the issue amicably, you may decide to take them to court. It’s always best to try to settle the matter out of court, since this approach is often time-consuming and expensive, and can result in heightened and ongoing tension between you and your neighbor. Should you go this route, hiring an experienced real estate attorney is highly recommended.
Vanguard Gives You Peace of Mind En Route to Your Closing
At Vanguard Title, we thoroughly understand the complex process of buying a home — including determining whether any encroachments exist on public record. From the first handshake to the closing table and beyond, our staff of local industry professionals works on your behalf. You can rest easy, knowing we’re here to help you come up with a strategy and recommend lenders and real estate agents that will guide you through the process. Purchasing a home is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make, and we strive to make your overall experience a positive one.