Musings +

Adverse Possession: Turf Wars.

Did you know that if your neighbor mows part of your yard long enough, he could end up claiming that he now owns it? And win?

It’s called Adverse Possession.

A client called us to say that his parents had hired their neighbor many years ago go mow their lawn, which he did. Something happened between them, we do not know what, and they took their business to another landscaper, but the neighbor continued to mow a swath about 20 feet wide adjacent to his own property. This went on for fifteen plus years. The neighbor then filed a complaint claiming Adverse Possession of the strip of land, asking that he be awarded ownership on the basis that he had taken care of the land for all that time.

It had to be litigated. On appeal, we were able to have the neighbor’s claims dismissed.

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