Asked over 4 years ago - Renton, WA
FlagThe back of our property has a string, marking the boundary line, put on by the owners of the ajoining property ten years ago. Is this a legal boundary line?
My recommendation would be to get a professional survey done immediately. In Washington State, if certain elements of use are met (there are several), a person can become the legal owner of land that is not theirs after only 10 YEARS! This is called adverse possession. Of note, however, if use of the land in question was used with permission from the "true ower," a claim for adverse possession is destroyed.
Where a string is not much of a boundary, if the other party has been using the property openly (not in secret), continuously as a true owner would for the statutory period (in most cases as noted above, for at least 10 years), and exclusively (no other adverse possessors), they may become the owner.
I have had several boundary dispute cases where parties that finally get around to surveying their property learn that the boundaries of their property are far different from where "everybody" believed they were for as much as 25 years. This almost always results in the "possessor" or "user" having a successful claim for adverse possession. The "former owner" is not afforded any compensation for the land in such cases. The legal ownership to the property in question is simply ordered by the court. That is why you should consider getting a professional survey done as soon as possible.
Finally, don't hesitate to talk with your neighbor is you are on good relations. This may preclude them from actually filing a suit for adverse possession, and you losing any of your valuable property.
If you find the line has been mislocated to your detriment and talking with your neighbors is not an option, please consider consulting an excellent real estate attorney right away.
Good luck.
Given that the string was placed where it is by adjoining property owners, it is not indicative of a "legal" property line. You will need to see the property boundaries as marked by a certified suvey to determine the exact legal boundaries of your property.
While the string may have been acurately placed on the actual or legal boundary, there is no way to be certain unless you can confirm that the string has been placed in accordance wth the official survey.
It is possible that the string was not placed accurately in the first instance, or, it may have been moved or altered at some time in the intervening years. If it is off by a few inches, it can be imporant, depending on the circumstances.
If, for instance, your municipal code calls for setbacks for construction of a structure - six inches on the wrong side of the setback line can be a very big problem for whoever built the structure.
The time at which the string was placed is not a particularly important factor, unless we're talking about 25 years or more. Then, the legal doctrine of "adverse possesion" becomes a significant consideration. Under the doctrine of Adverse Posession, if someone has been openly claiming your land as there own by use (such as by the placement of a string demarking what they believe is the boundary), and this use goes unchallenged by the rightful property owner for a period of more than 25 years (though, this figure may be different in your specific jurisdiction), then they have basically taken possesion of the porperty.
There are no jurisdictions that I am aware of in which property can be taken through adverse possession in merely 10 years.
My recommendation would be to seek an official survey, or have a survey conducted to veify the legal boundary. If you are considering any real improvement for which the legal boundary is a limiting factor, it is essential that you have a survey done prior to such construction to ensure you are working within the right parameters.
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