Sunday Weigh in March 26, 2023

[Barb135]

Well, I finally got to sit down long enough to get online and post!!  It's been a busy week and today was no different.  Last week, we found out that a neighbor had sold a piece of property right next to us.  We've watched a horse yard and shed being installed.  The new neighbors have 3 horses, a pony and a donkey, along with a pot-bellied pig.  Interesting menagerie and fun to watch.  

In the process of getting their survey done, we learned that a fence installed by the neighbor who sold the property, is actually almost 10' inside our property line.   When he put the fence up, years ago, there was a big neighborhood problem because he was trying to cop land off everyone whose  property abutted with his.   He did move his fence over from where he was originally going to put it (which was 30' inside our property line), but he was still inside our property line.  We didn't realize that until Friday when the surveyor was here.  We don't plan to quibble over the issue or make them remove the fence, but this man's daughter wants an easement from us to get to some other property they own because the original owner won't give them access via his property.   It's complicated and we have no idea how it's going to turn out.  We won't quibble over 8-10', but we will quibble over 30'.  

Anyway, I had to dig out our deed, with property description and original maps, etc so we'll have all that handy if/when needed.  

On Monday, I finished the bar I'd been working on at the (soon to be) art center.  Wednesday, I ended up trimming a couple of large sago palms that have neglected for several years.  The last time I trimmed them, I ended up poking a frond into my eye, which scratched my cornea pretty badly and ended up taking months to heal properly.  Anyway, it was job that desperately needed to be done.   We've also mowed the yard and I've pulled weeds from my flower barrels.  Today, I trimmed trimmed some other bushes and (attempted) to dig out some volunteer sago palms that have come up at the base of one of my big ones.  There were 5 volunteers and I managed to get 2 of them out, but the other 3 were larger than I could deal with.  I sort of "chopped" up the main roots with my shovel, then sprayed them with garden vinegar, mixed with salt.  I also sprayed some other weeds around the property in an effort to get rid of some of the "winter ugliness"!!   Things are looking "better" and it's nice to be able to be outside again.  

I had an appointment for Wednesday with the hand specialist, but they cancelled that for the 2nd time.  I tried to call several times, but no one answered the phone.  I left messages and no one called me back, so finally, on Tuesday, I had some errands to do, so I stopped by.  When you're standing right in front of the person who makes/cancels appointments, it's sort of hard for them to ignore you!!  :-)   I ended up getting pushed all the way back to April 24, but that's 3 weeks sooner than the May 17th she was originally going to give me!!  It will be interesting to see if the April appointment gets cancelled, as well.

I think I mentioned that my neighbor from OR is here for a couple of months now, so we've been walking most days.  We started out slowly, not going very far because of my foot and having to wear the ankle brace but my foot seems to be getting stronger, so I decided it was time to strike out and try the sidewalks uptown again.  We've done that 2 days in a row.  I have to rest for a while to let my feet recuperate (mostly from my neuropathy) after a walk uptown (even though it's not very far), but it's a nice change of scene.   I do, still, wear my ankle brace when I'm walking, but I'm thinking to try not wearing it one day and see how that works.  The foot doctor said I needed to wear the brace for 3 months and I'm nearing the end of 3 months with it.  I do wear compression stockings, as well, and that really makes a difference as to whether I have the ankle/leg swelling or not.

So - you'd think with all the walking and extra activities I've been doing, I'd have lost some weight.  I'm sorry to say, I actually gained a pound.  I'd like to think I've gained muscle, which will start burning fat soon!!  Somehow, I'm not convinced that will be the case, though.  :-)

Anyway, that's my saga.  How was your week?  I hope you were able to meet your goal(s) and are ready to start a new week.

~~Wishing everyone a wonderful, successful week~~

[AnnieBrooke]

My weight is the same as last week exactly, not bad / not great. So I'll devote this to chatting about your property rights, Barb. :-) We have a similar issue with a neighbor's flagpole lot, and 700-foot gravel driveway encroaching in its last 50 feet into our tree field.

You might not want to quibble about 9+ feet x [fence length] of land, but now that you know the fence is squatting on your property, you risk losing ownership of the land it encloses if you do nothing. After a certain amount of "open and notorious" use (like, someone builds a fence on your land and uses the land behind it as theirs and you can see it), the squatter can gain ownership of the disputed land under the laws of adverse possession. The real owner loses ownership rights if she or he sits on their rights. The day you discover the problem (not the day they built the fence, but last week when you heard about the survey), the clock starts to tick to get the correct property line legally acknowledged by your neighbors. If you don't, years later when the fence falls down or they sell to someone else, you could discover you don't own the strip any more. So, don't pooh-pooh the small amount of land to the neighbor or joke with them that you're glad it isn't 30 feet like the guy originally tried to steal. By all means, do quibble!

Since it's probably legally your fence, you could just tear it down and be within your rights, I think. But since they probably would rather not have you do that because they would then have to pay to have a new one put in,  your real-estate lawyer should easily be able to get them to sign an easement that acknowledges the land belongs to you no matter if the fence is in the wrong place or not. (They should also be expected to pay for a new survey showing the easement, and filing fees, etc., and it should be appropriately recorded.) Or, your lawyer can propose to their lawyer that they just buy the 9-foot strip from you outright (if zoning laws allow your property to be reduced by that amount of feet). (If so, they again would be the ones expected to pay for the new survey and any registration fees of the new property line that would be required. Don't leave a mess for the next buyer and seller.)

But before you grant an easement, also talk to your lawyer about a couple of potential problems. Find out what happens if the new owners build a structure inside the wrongly-placed fence that is on your land. Also, find out if easements go along with the property such that you would have to grant it to the next buyer, and decide if you want that. You should also ask about liability: if someone gets injured or dies on your land inside their fence, who gets sued? What if they start a fire on that strip that goes out of control, or if they dump waste on that part of your property?

Your lawyer could also bundle this negotiation with the discussion of the other easement the daughter wants. That sounds like one you'll be getting a real-estate lawyer for in any case. If experienced at real-estate law, the two lawyers should be able to work out some kind of creative solutions that protect all parties and give everyone what they want.

You have the better hand, since they probably would rather not have to build a new fence and their daughter wants this other easement (given that the county or local municipality would even let you grant it). That means your lawyer should be able to take a friendly and conciliatory (or at least matter-of-fact) tone, so you all can remain friendly neighbors. The lawyers aren't emotionally tied to the situation and they do this kind of problem-solving all the time. Tell your neighbors you love them and it would be easiest to let the professionals come up with some proposals so you can all continue to enjoy being neighbors. Don't try to work it out creative solutions yourselves. These neighbors sound fun with their menagerie, and the simplest and cleanest possible way is to let the professionals do the discussing and come up with solutions.

I would suggest that the issues are easier solved by outright selling the bits of land when that can be done -- it saves you from later problems. My neighbor's driveway has been encroaching on our land for probably 35 years, and we only saw it about 6 years ago when we had a survey done. Our neighbor has a suspicious mind-set, and if she is willing to pay for a sharp attorney, he or she would instantly claim their driveway's too-wide swing by her house has been open and notorious all these 35 years. So be careful about what you say to your neighbors that could sound like concessions! :-)

This is long enough. Have a great week!