Fence - break in occupation

Sounds like the party doing the developing still had control of the land, if they were clearing fence, etc.?ÿ Did the party on the other side do anything across the missing fence line?

I'm guessing that AP had already matured.?ÿ Once that fact is established in a later action to quiet title, it would require a showing of AP on the part of the adjoiner to overcome the fait accompli.?ÿ The missing fence - by action of the owner, no less - for a short period wouldn't toll the adjoiner's adverse actions.?ÿ Payment of taxes may play a critical factor in any event.

I've been told that taxes are assessed by deed description. Occupation alone doesn't do it for Adverse Possession. You must pay the taxes on the Adverse Possesion  parcel for 5 years.

You'd have to survey, new deed, and then pay taxes on the described parcel including the Adverse Possession parcel for 5 years.

Now if there are no monuments available to locate the original parcel, then maybe the old fence line becomes the best available evidence for the parcels. If you're just trying to clean up a boundary line do a Boundary Line Agreement.

Who took the fence down?

Hell, it don't make no difference everything would be blamed on the Surveyor anyway ! ???? 

I'm with Warren on this one.

Good point

As it happens, in this case, the other side was also being demolished in preparation for redevelopment.

Unknown. Presumably by a contractor.

I think I am, too.  The AP'd upon owner is going to try to buffalo the AP'ing owner into moving the fence, and may very well succeed. AP is pretty hard to win here in Oregon and it may not be worth the trouble to acquire 0.5' of property. The survey would cost more than moving the fence.   

The thing is that the topographic mapping (2015, by another firm) showed the original fence over the line. A new building, complete with storm water retention facility, has been designed up to the record property line. These storm water things have strict area requirements -generally every square inch is needed to meet requirements and any shortage will have to come out of the building, not the retention. That's Portland. Now that construction has begun the presence of this fence is suddenly an issue.      

You must pay the taxes on the Adverse Possession  parcel for 5 years.

That may be so in your state but not in Oregon. Payment of taxes is considered evidence of an "honest belief that has an objective basis" that the the property is properly their own - which is a requirement - but that may be proved by other means as well.  

And that's what makes the profession interesting! Little quirks with every job.?ÿ

Sounds like the old ask for forgiveness rather than ask for permission ploy. I am not aware of a reviewing agency, that I work with anyway, that would allow for this to get as far as it did. Nor do I know of a successful developer that would try this stunt. No one wins when this goes to court.?ÿ

Once the statute runs the title of the record owner is extinguished, they can't recover the property, theoretically of course.?ÿ

I have a similar situation but I believe it's a practical boundary because the fence is still on an old boundary. The description changed in a 1958 transaction. Henry owned two tracts, he sold the north one in 1958 to Kenneth and I think the TC moved the common boundary 1 foot south possibly "correcting" a perceived error which wasn't an error. The north parcel is still shown on the tax map as 79 feet wide, not 80 feet per the Deed.

Don't beat up Portland too much, we have that storm water "retention facility" infection here in live free or die country also. Not that there's anything wrong with it. ???? 

I would say once you have established AP it's a done deal. It can go back to the neighbor by AP, but he needs to take the 10-20 years or whatever Oregon statute says.