Guy next door built a fence 2 feet onto my side of the line

Came home last Wednesday in Austin and saw this dude putting up a new privacy fence. Walked over to check it out and he had already set posts a good 2 feet past the property marker. I got the survey from when I bought the place 3 years ago so I showed him. He just shrugged and said "well the old fence was there for 20 years" like that gives him rights or something. Anyone else deal with a neighbor who thinks squatters rights apply to fences?

3 comments

3 Comments

king.andrew18d ago

You gotta love how some people think "well it was like that before" is some kind of legal argument. Adverse possession laws are real in Texas though, so if he can prove he's been using that strip openly and paying taxes on it for 10 years, you might actually have a problem. Best to call your title company or a real estate lawyer now, because ignoring it could literally give him that land over time.

matthewkim18d ago

Speaking of "open and notorious," how exactly does someone prove they were paying taxes on land that's technically yours? I mean, wouldn't the county have to accept payments under someone else's name for that to even count. Seems like a lot of people just assume adverse possession is easy to prove when the reality is you need a paper trail and a good lawyer to make it stick.

margaret_taylor4217d ago

Right? That tax thing is tricky, no free land grab without a lawyer.