My neighbor is saying after 3 years that my fence is on his land.?

I have lived in my house for 9 years. My house was built in 1959 with the fencing done soon after. The neighbor said a survey was done last week but I do not see any stakes in the ground. So he is a liar right there. What authority do I need to go to settle this. I went on my county website and it said that they do not handle property issues. This is in Florida.

My neighbor is saying after 3 years that my fence is on his land.?
You might own it by adverse possession. If the fence has been in the same spot since 1959, I'm almost sure you do. You (or your predecessors in interest) have probably:


1. been in actual possession


2. openly and notoriously


3. exclusively


4. adversely to the record owner


5. continuously, and


6. under claim of right


for the entire statutory period (I think the longest period anywhere in the U.S. is either 10 or 15 years).





In some states you have to do all of this in good faith. In other states, strangely enough, you have to do it in bad faith.





So, what I would do is talk to a local property law attorney and talk about filing a suit to quiet title. You might also take a look at the Wikipedia article I've listed as a source.





EDIT: Of course, what I've said here might not make for a good neighborly relationship. But he's arguing with you over a fence which has been in the same spot for nearly 60 years, and I think that makes him the a**hole.





EDIT (again): You might want to tell your neighbor his problem is with the guy who sold him the property, not you. He might have a claim agains them for breach of contract or breach of warranty deed.





EDIT (a third time): I also like what everyone else is saying about having your own survey done. If it turns out this guy is wrong, and the fence is in the right place, you don't need to go to court at all. Unless he brings you to court first, in which case you contact an attorney immediately.
Reply:Ask to see the survey report. As for no stakes in the ground, they may have already found the exisiting ones, or the property lines were surveyed using GPS.





If you can find out the name of the surveyor, ask around to local engineering and archtectual firms and see if they deal with the same surveyor. I once needed to hire a surveyor and went looking in the Yellow Pages. When I told my civil engineer brother in law who I was thinking of hiring, he told me to not hire him! Turns out they had a string of lawsuits involving that surveyor and that his surveying was almost always found to be incorrect!





There is a possibility that if the fence is indeed on his property, that the lines could be redrawn depending on how long the fence has been established. It depends really on how much area this concerns if you really want to fight over it.





If anything, try and talk it out with your neighbor. You may come to an agreement without involving th courts.
Reply:I had my lot surveyed last year.


It only took half a day. When I got home there where No stakes to be seen.





It doesn't matter how many years or decades have gone by, if your fence is on his land he has a right to have the fence moved or torn down.





Ask to see the survey report, that's what my neighbor did, and then she even contacted the company I hired to do the job.


I then sued her and I won ( plus, she had to pay ALL of my expenses and remove the part of her driveway that was on my lot )
Reply:Call your town hall and ask them what department you need to speak to, it may be planning and zoning, they may have a surveyors office also the town clerks office usually has land records you can look at that will tell you exactly where your property lines are ( this is done for real estate sale purposes)
Reply:regardless of what the law stipulates in your state there are certain things that are practically universal. he is the one complaining. by natural order of due process - he is the one that must go to the authorities if he has a gripe about the situation. the fence has been there long enough acting as your property that he needs to prove otherwise to do anything about it.
Reply:Yeah definately get a survey done. He can be stating it is his land, and if he can prove later on you agreed to his survey analysis, even though property rights may show it was always yours, he can claim he has been maintaining the area for the last few years.
Reply:Fences are frequently mislocated. He is not necessarily "a liar" just because there are no stakes in the ground. Ask to see a copy of the survey map certified by a licensed land surveyor.
Reply:%26gt; So he is a liar right there





You don't need stakes to do a survey.





%26gt; What authority do I need to go to settle this





You call an attorney from your local yellow pages. It is a routine property line dispute.
Reply:He'll need a real estate atty to file suit for the encroachment of the fence and to have order issued for it's removal.
Reply:Listen to Sir Jello; he is right on the money.
Reply:Get your own survey done.
Reply:punch him in the nose