A friend of mine had this problem happen to him.
Their neighbor built an extension on their house, having not made sure of the property line. They thought that the line was actually 200 feet further out than it actually was. Their new garage was overlapping. Plus, they put up a barn that was totally on my friend’s property.
My friend didn’t know that they’d done it, as it was at the back edge of his property, and he hadn’t been back there in a while. So, when he saw it, he went to have a neighborly chat. He brought a surveyor along, who had the maps showing where the property line was.
He gave the neighbor a choice:
- Tear down the parts of the structures that was on his land.
- Move the structures onto the neighbor’s own land, which would be costly.
- Give those structures to my friend.
- Pay rent to keep the structures on his land.
The one option my friend was not open to was selling the land to the neighbor, as he was pissed that the guy didn’t show due diligence in making sure that the structure was on his own land.
The neighbor ranted and raved, and even issued threats. My friend called a lawyer.
When it was all said and done, he was forced to tear it all down.
