Pretty sure this is specifically why you were given that document to sign and yes, you gave up any rights to the strip of property.
Delaware man loses $125,000 property to squatter neighbor after trying to remove goat pen she built on it
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I figured that and it doesn't matter to me. I was young and sure didn't want to start off on a bad note with a new neighbor and I was the "Johnny come lately."
Most likely your signature was used to indemnity the title insurance company from guaranteeing your current borders since they knew your fence was on your neighbors land. Your neighbor wasn't notified and I suspect any adverse possession claim you may have isn't affected.
If you want to be a great neighbor, let your neighbor know the survey showed the fence is over the line. If that's OK with him, he can give you permission to use his strip of land, which negates any adverse posession claim. Or he might want you to move the fence. Or just say nothing and let sleeping dogs lie.
When this was discovered - who knows how long ago - wouldn't they (the neighbor) have been told ?
Not by the title or escrow company. Maybe by the surveyer if the neighbor spoke to him during the completion of the survey. The survey and closing was between buyer and seller and, unless the neighbor was one of them, he would have nothing to do with the transaction.
I believe there was an agreement between my neighbor and the previous owner of my home. My fence which was newly installed just prior to when I purchased my home, meets up with their older chain link fence which was installed 3 feet from the property line for whatever reason. I would bet the now elderly neighbor knows about the property line and has made no issue. My fence is showing its age and will need replacing soon. I likely will have the border surveyed and any new fence will be installed on the border. I won't miss the few feet and do not want to be owing to anyone.
I wonder if the same “rights” apply to government owned lands? Can one squat on a piece of land in a national park somewhere and claim it for their own? I highly doubt it.
My home is on 3 acres and is on a conservation easement. The back of my property is a large wooded park system which is protected.
No. You can read about BLM and ranchers and their dealings in the Yellowstone and surrounding areas.
I have rebar pins on my front corners and pipes on the back ones. Surveyor put a rebar pin in one of the corners as its pipe got plowed out into the woods of the empty lot next door. Cemented the pin in flush so it's plow proof and visible.
As said good markers make for good neighbors.
As said good markers make for good neighbors.
A few years ago my sisters neighbor had place their fence about 4 feet on my sisters property. Since she lives on about an acre she didnt care until she spoke to her lawyer. Lawyer told her have the neighbor move the fence or they could claim property as theirs.
There are different kinds of adverse possession, including prescriptive easements that only confer a right to use a piece of property, but not ownership per se. State laws allowing adverse possession claims that can transfer title typically require paying property taxes. There have been squatting cases where someone attempted to pay taxes on something like a vacation home.
Found Delaware law. A lot of it uses obscure language, but apparently 20 years is the requirement for adverse possession and it doesn’t mention taxes.
When I was thinking of earlier was the notorious “Loki Boy” squatter in Boca Raton, Florida. He squatted on a property that was handed over to Bank of America before it would have likely been foreclosed. I believe he tried to pay the taxes. It would have taken 7 years in Florida, but it was over for him once the bank discovered it. The true owner can have someone ejected before the requirements for adverse possession are complete.
§ 7901. Right of entry.
No person shall make an entry into any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, but within 20 years next after the person’s right or title to the same first descended or accrued.
Code 1852, § 2733; Code 1915, § 4662; Code 1935, § 5120; 10 Del. C. 1953, § 7901; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1;
No person shall make an entry into any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, but within 20 years next after the person’s right or title to the same first descended or accrued.
Code 1852, § 2733; Code 1915, § 4662; Code 1935, § 5120; 10 Del. C. 1953, § 7901; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1;
§ 7902. Seisin or possession.
No person shall have, or maintain any writ of right, or action, real, personal, or mixed, for, or make any prescription, or claim, to, or in, any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, of the seisin, or possession of the person, the person’s ancestor, or predecessor, and declare, or allege, in any manner whatever, any further seisin of the person, the person’s ancestor, or predecessor, but only an actual seisin of the person, the person’s ancestor, or predecessor, of the premises sued for, or claimed, within 20 years next before such writ, or action.
Code 1852, § 2734; Code 1915, § 4663; Code 1935, § 5121; 10 Del. C. 1953, § 7902; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1;
No person shall have, or maintain any writ of right, or action, real, personal, or mixed, for, or make any prescription, or claim, to, or in, any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, of the seisin, or possession of the person, the person’s ancestor, or predecessor, and declare, or allege, in any manner whatever, any further seisin of the person, the person’s ancestor, or predecessor, but only an actual seisin of the person, the person’s ancestor, or predecessor, of the premises sued for, or claimed, within 20 years next before such writ, or action.
Code 1852, § 2734; Code 1915, § 4663; Code 1935, § 5121; 10 Del. C. 1953, § 7902; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1;
When I was thinking of earlier was the notorious “Loki Boy” squatter in Boca Raton, Florida. He squatted on a property that was handed over to Bank of America before it would have likely been foreclosed. I believe he tried to pay the taxes. It would have taken 7 years in Florida, but it was over for him once the bank discovered it. The true owner can have someone ejected before the requirements for adverse possession are complete.
Boca squatter home sells, but still in court
The multi-million dollar Boca Raton mansion taken over by the mysterious Loki Boy earlier this year has sold for $2.29 million to a new owner, according to a special warranty deed filed with the Palm…
www.palmbeachpost.com
The law was created hundreds of years ago when hand-scrawled property records could more easily be lost or damaged. Allowing for adverse possession kept land in productive use when ownership was unclear, or, for example, the owner died with no heirs.
If the person claiming adverse possession stays in the home for seven years, paying taxes and caring for the property, he or she can take permanent ownership. Taxes on the Golden Harbour Drive home were $39,200 last year.
In recent times, adverse possession has been used in small property line disputes.
But today, with property records tangled in the massive real estate meltdown and foreclosure backlog in the courts, it has been used by people hoping to take over vacant and abandoned property permanently.
I will never buy another property that is encroached on!
What a disaster it turned out to be trying to sell my last house. I almost had to take a neighbor to court over it (the neighbor was attempting to sue me because I wouldn't sell my house to him). Due to a mistake from the attorney's office I use to buy the house, the afidavit of an encroachment and no claims wasn't filed with the county. And the way it works, the neighbor who bought the next door lot in 2021 would have an adverse possession claim.
It's okay if I'm encroaching on someone's lot ... but I will never buy anything with an encroachment.
What a disaster it turned out to be trying to sell my last house. I almost had to take a neighbor to court over it (the neighbor was attempting to sue me because I wouldn't sell my house to him). Due to a mistake from the attorney's office I use to buy the house, the afidavit of an encroachment and no claims wasn't filed with the county. And the way it works, the neighbor who bought the next door lot in 2021 would have an adverse possession claim.
It's okay if I'm encroaching on someone's lot ... but I will never buy anything with an encroachment.
I bet lots of people bought like you did, but unknowingly between 2020 and 2022 during the craze when pretty much everyone was buying properties as is without inspections or surveys.
They will be finding out the hard way.
We did buy our current house in 2022 without an inspection. I can handle that better than most. Most title companies won't issue title for property in NY without a recent survey.
When I bought my previous house in 2016, the lawyer "forgot" to tell me about the encroachment. I found out about it when I was reviewing documentation on my own after closing. If the encroachment was presented to me, I would have passed on the house. I know how bad that can be.
Of course not. It's often explicitly in adverse possession law that it doesn't apply to any property owned by a government or possibly a quasi-government entity (like a utility district) although sometimes it's just a general principle of law (that government land can't be subject to adverse possession) even without a specific law.
I don't see anything specifically in the Delaware law on adverse possession that exempts government property. But there might be federal laws that specifically exempt the federal government from state laws on adverse possession. I can't find anything specifically about national parks, but I found this from the Forest Service.
13.21 - Adverse Possession. Adverse possession is the most
common basis for claims on National Forest lands in the eastern
Regions. The claimant may assert title to the contested land
through claimant's or predecessor's occupancy and use for a
statutory period. To be valid, claims involving adverse
possession must be based on the period of occupancy and use of
the land by the claimant before United States acquisition.
Adverse possession does not work against the United States. Once
a tract becomes part of a National Forest, a person cannot
acquire title to any part of that tract by adversely occupying or
using it, regardless of the period or intensity of use.
