My fence is on my neighbors property by 3 feet for 15 years due to a survey error. Do I own that land now?

Is there a ruling that allows me to keep my fence after all these years if the original survey was wrong by no fault of mine. I ive in Long Island Brookhaven town.

My fence is on my neighbors property by 3 feet for 15 years due to a survey error. Do I own that land now?
nope...his land..sorry
Reply:There is. You can argue he had time to contest it and did not. My parents had a similar situation in east rockaway. The neighbor wanted to expand their driveway and insisted the property was theirs. The neighbors even hired a surveyor to prove their point, but the survey proved they not only did not own the land, but part of their driveway was already on my parents property. The village advised forcing the neighbor to remove the encroaching driveway or my parents may relinquish control by default. My parents just bought the house, so even though the driveway was old, they acted quick and forced the removal. If they had waited years after knowing, the owner could argue that they effectively abandoned or gave up ownership by not acting years before.





Check with the town building department. Always better to have the law on your side. Things like this can get messy (expensive) real quick. better to have a fact based solution now.
Reply:You admittted that your fence is THIER LAND, theres your answer,
Reply:It would be a claim of adverse possession, in order to change the deed property lines officially, you would have to go into civil court then equity division and file an adverse possession complaint
Reply:it's doubtful.





you might be able to keep the land under the doctrine of adverse possession. but you had to have known about the error, for 10 years (depending on your state law), and so did your neighbor.





it's an uphill battle.
Reply:You may have a claim to own the property by the doctrine of adverse possession, however you could spend thousands of dollars to pursue such a claim through court. It is probably cheaper and certainly less stressful to simply move the fence. How much is a three foot strip of land worth to you?
Reply:No, I used to work as a surveyor for an Engineering firm. But it will cost your neighbor close to about $1,000 to re-survey the land
Reply:No. To get a deed through adverse possession, you have to KNOW and INTEND to adversely possess the property for a statutorily set period of time (10 years in most places).
Reply:you do not own the land....but your neighbor may own the fence!
Reply:maybe,


you might have legal claim to the land thru squatters rights.





In simple terms, this means that those attempting to claim the property are occupying it exclusively (keeping out others) and openly as if it were their own. Some jurisdictions permit accidental adverse possession as might occur with a surveying error. The fact that there is a fence on that portion of the property demonstrates an attempt to keep others out.


In my opinion I think you have a pretty good chance of gaining legal title to the land.
Reply:No, you don't. Instead you need to work with your neighbor to resolve this to their satisfaction. Your fence, their property. NO matter the person at fault, they could take it down at any time. You may be able to sue for the cost of moving the fence. The surveyor or the city that hired them or the company that hired him. Best to consult and attorney and be nice as pie to your neighbors in the meanwhile. Eventually you have to move the fence.
Reply:It is called the right of Adverse Possession. Unless your neighbor took action to have the fence moved, the land is yours to use...but gotta ask is it worth it to cause problems?
Reply:no it's still his land.


he'll have to pay for surveying and having it fenced properly(if the neighbor cares) but it's still his land and depending who and when the fence was put up he might own that too....