The late poet Robert Frost once wrote, "Good fences make good neighbors." That isn't as true, however, if your neighbor's fence is on your property. Georgia has specific rules for resolving property disputes like that.
According to one Atlanta lawyer, a courtroom is the last place you want to end up. Legal battles between neighbors can get messy, says David Metzger, a real estate attorney with the Atlanta-based law firm of Williams Teusink, LLC. However, sometimes neighbors reach an impasse.
Metzger offers the following tips about what you should do to settle property disputes.
Boundary Issues
When it comes to property disputes, Metzger said most boil down to "what we call encroachment over a slight part of the boundary lines." Perhaps you discover the neighbor's driveway or backyard shed is two feet over your property line. Maybe you purchased a new house and upon hiring a landscape designer realized a neighbor has three feet of your property inside their hedges.
Metzger said, one of the more common property disputes that play out in court is over water runoff from storms. In cases of water runoff, he recommends homeowners identify the source of the water.
Perhaps construction or a landscaping project on a neighbor's home results in water runoff that causes damage to your property. Metzger recommends gathering facts and evidence before confronting the neighbor. This includes taking photos and videos showing the source and flow of the water as well as damage.
He suggests using common sense when collecting evidence. Taking photos of a neighbor's property is fine, as long as trespassing and privacy laws are not broken.
Before going to court, Metzger suggests getting proof about exactly where the lines are drawn. Aerial shots, hedges, deeds and neighborhood diagrams created by developers, do not provide adequate proof.
Although you can retrieve parcel maps from local municipalities, Metzger said "the county doesn't have the exact location of boundary lines... The county has parcel maps but that is not exact and not going to resolve a property line dispute, particularly if your driveway is now two feet over my property."
Hiring a surveyor is the most accurate way to determine property lines, Metzger said.
Bear in mind, he said, that even after a property is surveyed, this does not guarantee resolution.
"There can be issues with whether there was permission granted," Metzger said. "Sometimes a previous owner may have been given permission."
Perhaps a now deceased former property owner gave a neighbor permission to build on his property, twenty years ago, but then new neighbors moved in. In cases like that, Metzger said the two parties can have boundary agreements drawn up and offer a "license for use."
If someone has been using a portion of a neighbor's property for more than 20 years, they may be able to legally claim the land as their own through what's called adverse possession. According to Nolo.com, a person must have been in continual possession of the property all those years. They must also have made no attempts to conceal their use of the property, instead have been using it out in the open.
Communicate With Neighbors
After establishing property lines, Metzger suggests that people start with a polite conversation. He recommends starting the conversation with "Did you know...?"
This way you're informing and not accusing the neighbor of wrongdoing. Then he suggests seeking resolution away from a courtroom. "Lawsuits are the most expensive ways to resolve property disputes," Metzger said. "Rarely will you get everything you ask for. At some point the lawsuit will come to an end and you'll still have to be neighbors."
He said people should ask themselves if the dispute is truly over property lines or underlying issues.
If you decide the issue is serious enough to address, Metzger said it's important to get off to an amicable start.
"In the early stages of a dispute you need to be cognizant of the fact that one day that the dispute is going to end," he said. "Sometimes there are deeper underlying personality conflicts between the two neighbors. They've been having an issue going on for a long time and then somebody new moves in with different ideas."
If you feel strongly that the law is on your side, but your neighbor disagrees, landowners have a right to take possession of their property as long as they do so "without breaching the peace," according to information posted on the website of Cartersville real estate firm Jenkins and Olson.
Weighing Legal Options
If court is the only remedy, keep calm and remain reasonable, Metzger said, even when they don't do what you want.
"If you're asking a neighbor to do something that is costly they are not going to want to do it," he said. "It usually starts with a conversation. Out of that you'll get a decent feel about how things are going to go."
It's worth considering the cost of legal remedies.
"Ask yourself if it's worth the time and hassle, " Metzger said. "If something undermines the foundation of your home, obviously you need to get that resolved. But is it worth it to go to war over something little?"
If you decide it is, hire a good attorney.
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