Confusion and mistakes can lead a neighbor to build a driveway, shed, or fence on your side of the property line. If your neighbor builds a driveway, accessory building, or other structure on your side of the property line, you could face a serious boundary dispute. But what should you do if your neighbor builds on your property? Fortunately, you can take steps to protect your legal rights, including documenting the correct property lines and your neighbor’s encroachment, working out an amicable resolution with your neighbor, and pursuing legal action if you cannot settle the issue with them.
What Counts as Encroachment?
“Encroachment” occurs when a property owner installs any structure or improvement that crosses onto their neighbor’s land. Property owners can construct or place various items that encroach on a neighbor’s side of the boundary line, such as:
- Fences
- Sheds
- Accessory dwellings
- Retaining walls
- Landscaping
- Recreational equipment (e.g., children’s playsets, basketball hoops, etc.)
- Driveways
Some encroachments may seem minor, such as branches from trees or bushes that hang over the property line onto a neighbor’s land. However, some encroachments can represent a substantial intrusion onto a neighbor’s property, such as constructing permanent structures like a driveway or retaining wall. Such encroachments can cloud the neighbor’s property title, especially if the structure remains in place long enough, which can complicate the neighbor’s ability to sell or obtain financing against the property’s equity.
Step One: Confirm Property Boundaries and Document the Encroachment
If a property owner suspects a neighbor has built an encroachment on their property, the first step is to confirm the correct boundary lines and document the encroachment visually. A property owner can hire a licensed surveying company to plot accurate property boundaries based on public records like deeds, tax records, and plat maps. With the correct boundary marked, a property owner can visually demonstrate that their neighbor has placed structures or landscaping on the wrong side of the property line.
Step Two: Communicate with Your Neighbor
Many encroachments result from an honest mistake or genuine conflicts in property records. A property owner can resolve an encroachment with minimal fuss by having a calm conversation with their neighbor about solutions, such as relocating the structure onto the neighbor’s side of the property line, negotiating a written permission agreement or easement, or having the neighbor buy the portion of land being encroached upon.
Step Three: Evaluate Your Legal Remedies
If settlement negotiations with a neighbor fail, a property owner has several remedies for an encroachment, including:
- A quiet title action to resolve disputes about the position of the property line
- An ejectment action to recover possession of the encroached-upon land
- A trespass claim and injunction to obtain a court-ordered removal of encroachment and compensation for losses the encroachment caused
Why You Shouldn’t Wait: Adverse Possession
Under Oregon’s adverse possession law, a party may obtain legal title to another’s property if they maintain open and notorious possession and use of the property for at least ten years under an objectively reasonable good-faith belief that they own it. The adverse possession law means that failing to act when a neighbor places something on your side of the property line means that section of your property can become your neighbor’s property after enough time passes.
Contact Our Oregon Real Estate Law Firm Today
If you discover that your neighbor has built something on your property, you need to act quickly to protect your rights and property interests. Contact Wayne A. Lamb Law today for an initial consultation with an Oregon real estate attorney to discuss your legal options if your neighbor constructs a driveway or structure or plants landscaping on your side of the boundary line between your properties.