This guy is going to wear me out. He is definitely the poster child for not obtaining a survey prior to purchase.
He came my way because I surveyed some adjacent property. He's owned his approx. 1.25 acres for about 5 years now. His tract is surrounded on three sided by a tract to the north. The south side is public road (thank goodness).
All this area was an unfenced pasture when he bought his home. It was actually built by the son of the owner of EVERYTHING around there. The family sold out completely and moved on. All the remaining lands have now passed into other owners.
He's done a good job of 'spreading out'. He has a couple of out buildings and a 1000 gal. LP tank that isn't even on his property. I bet he fertilizes and mows 3 acres.
New owners of the surrounding tract are trying to fence for livestock. He's throwing a fit because he's getting "fenced in". I really feel for the guy but simple fact is: get your boundaries established at purchase, That way you'll know.
He will not let go of the fantasy that there is "something wrong" with the deeds and he really owns everything he has pissed on. Yesterday afternoon I told him buying a place and getting it surveyed 5 years later is similar to pulling the trigger and then trying to point the barrel.... Most folks are dissatisfied with the results.
Today we mark his lines with wood. He is going to squeal like pig wrapped up in barb-wire. Maybe I'll change my phone number.....:pinch:
EDIT: I forgot to mention...he's an architect.
Put your phone on call forwarding back to him and he can leave himself messages. 🙂
Not a bad idea! Up 'til now I've been reduced to crinkling up a cellophane honey bun wrapper in my hand, next to my phone...and telling him I've got a bad connection, I'll have to call him back. 😉
I belly laughed at both of those....Seasoned advice no doubt. :good:
Would the adjoiner(s) sell him another acre or two? If it's only pasture it might be a possibility, and surveying out that would establish lines for him.
If he's an architect, then he MUST be right!!!!!!
Bill
In reality that's where this is headed. But I don't think he's going to get his checkbook out quietly. He feels entitled to everything he has occupied.
A month ago I suggested he retain counsel. He did and his attorney has called me to cry on MY shoulder. The attorney apparently told him if he was going to go for the "adverse possession" angle he could call another attorney. I've even gotten phone calls from the new owners of the surrounding pasture...and they think he's....uhhh...extreme.
I can't really do anything for him except provide a survey showing his property lines and his occupational improvements. I have offered to describe any lands the two adjoiners might decide upon conveying.
Oh...and send him an invoice.
My current one is owned by two PhDs, nice as could be, but determined to convince me the line is over there because they have a drawing that shows the line. Actually, what they are focused on is a radial line with a bearing for the cul-de-sac, which as we know is there for convenience in calculating the boundary but has no other significance. But could I please check it again. And again.
Bill
I don't know Oklahoma law, but in the states I'm familiar with, he's got no case for adverse possession, having only been on the property for five years.
Bill
This guy has qualified for my "crazy" client fees. That is if I took any crazy clients. 😉
He's an architect.....I got it now. If you would use a tape measure with 12 inches in a foot, instead of a foot that's only 10 inches long, he'd have the land.
Yes, I've had a few of those. Mainly they tell me the survey must be wrong because the design they have to build won't fit on the plot: what am I going to do about it?
I had one once whose original survey had been adjusted by the "surveyor" to fit what he wanted. When they put the piles in on the site he found his jacuzzi had real running water - the building extended over the boundary stream.
unhappy property owner...round MCMXLVII...
There, I fixed your roman number.
unhappy property owner...round MCMXLVII...
:good:
Dang it, Tom
That's what I was gonna say!
Used to think those guys all originated in Texarkana because they called themselves ArkyTex.
His benefit would be that his deed includes wording that he has purchased the land, the house, and all the outbuildings and appurtenances connected in the deal that was made with the original owners.
It is more often than ever stated that someone has sold more than they have measured.
B-)
Bill
> I don't know Oklahoma law, but in the states I'm familiar with, he's got no case for adverse possession, having only been on the property for five years.
Statutory period in OK is 15 years. AP claims are rarely successful in OK, for reasons other than time.
He may possibly have a case for estoppel. But I doubt it.
Bill
> Oh...and send him an invoice.
In the end you may wish you had got paid in advance.
he wishes...
all the outbuildings, fences, greenhouse, swingset, driveway and pretty row of arborvitae are all his improvements. When I divided up the original estate (less his property) the family attorney provided me with a tremendous amount of record fodder. One folder contained the original realtor agreement (from which this fella eventually bought) with a wad of photos of the house before he purchased. It was just a nice brick house and a gravel drive. And he has moved the drive himself...mostly off the property. :bored:
He made it on scene this morning after his sick-at-home teenage daughter called him about us being on the property. He's a nice enough fella. Just in a corner and intense. I will do all I can for him. It's up to him and his neighbors to hammer out the detail$...
he wishes...
Of all people, as an architect you'd think he'd know better. :pinch:
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.