Miami Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Miami Title Attorneys

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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Florida

Finding out that property lines are improperly drawn and learning that you have been partially occupying your neighbor's land, or vice versa, can cause some very serious legal issues.

It's typically possible, though not always easy, for neighbors to come to a resolution of these disputes on their own. If the neighbors happen to like one another, and the difference between the actual property lines and what they believed the property lines to be is quite small (a foot or two, for example), they might simply decide to go on as they had before. This is certainly a desirable solution in the short term, since it saves everyone a great deal of time and energy. Nonetheless, in the long term, this can cause problems, particularly if one neighbor decides they want to enforce the legal property lines down the road.

In these cases, what often happens is that the owner of the property which is truly larger than he initially believed (due to the property line not being where he thought it was) wants to make use of the further property, and eject his neighbor from it. The other neighbor, on the other hand, will want to keep using the land as before, to avoid having his property shrink.

While the boundary disputes discussed above occur fairly regularly, they aren't the only type of land dispute that can happen in Miami, Florida. There are also title disputes. These disagreements arise when it isn't clear who owns an entire parcel of land. There are many reasons why such confusion might arise, but a common one is failure to properly record a deed, or subsequent loss of a deed by the recording office. While typically innocent in origin, these disputes can also be the product of fraud. Sometimes, a landowner will sell his land to more than one person, with each buyer assuming that they are the only buyer. Having "sold" his land multiple times, the fraudster presumably flees the jurisdiction with his ill-gotten gains. This leaves the buyers to figure out who truly owns the land that each of them thought they had just bought. Obviously, whoever loses this dispute will typically have to absorb the loss of the land's purchase price, if the fraudulent seller cannot be found.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Miami, Florida

One possible result of a boundary dispute is a court effectively re-drawing the boundaries to fit what the neighbors had perceived. This is most frequently done if the neighbors were aware for a long time of the "real" property lines, and didn't do anything about it. It also helps if the neighbor who is encroaching makes major improvements to the land, and enforcing the new property lines would place a major burden on him.

A court, for various possible reasons, might decide to give effect to the legally-recorded property lines, which would always change the neighbors' situation, with respect to how they use their land. For instance, if the neighbor who is benefiting from the prevailing situation (he is using land beyond the actual boundary of his property, thereby encroaching onto the land of another) knew about the discrepancy and took steps to actively hide this fact from the other neighbor, the court is very unlikely to do anything that rewards this behavior, even in the slightest. Therefore, a court is likely to decide against the dishonest neighbor. Conversely, if the neighbor who would benefit from enforcing the property lines did nothing to make this happen for many years, a court will probably tell them that they had their chance, and essentially consented to the current arrangement when they took no action to correct it.

In the case of disputes over title, courts have to figure out who owns a specific piece of real property. Courts will consider many factors, and there are some perplexing and (in some cases) antiquated legal issues that guide Miami, Florida courts on these matters.

Without delving into the specifics too much, courts typically resolve title disputes by looking at who recorded the deed first, and whether or not that person had notice of any prior sales of the same land. To succeed in a dispute like this, a buyer will usually need to prove that they were the first to record their deed, and that they had no notice (or reason to know) of any prior conveyances of the same land.

What Can A Miami, Florida Attorney Do?

The legal issues surrounding title and boundary disagreements can get pretty confusing, and there are typically very high stakes involved (most people think their land is pretty important). For that reason, a good Miami, Florida real estate attorney will prove invaluable if such a dispute arises.

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Miami

Miami is the seat of Miami-Dade County and the city with the 9th largest population in the entire United States with over 2.5 million Florida residents. In addition to the massive population, Miami is one of the most popular tourist destinations. It's the United States' 5th richest city and was voted "America's Cleanest City" by Forbes Magazine. The Port of Miami is the number one cruise passenger port on the globe earning Miami the title of "Cruise Capital of the World." Miami does not disappoint with attractions. The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts ranks just behind New York's Lincoln Center for the largest performing arts center in the entire United States and hosts world renown operas, ballets, concerts, musicals, and plays.

You shouldn't be surprised to find that the City of Miami attracts so many performance artists like musicians, singers, actors, and dancers. You may also know Miami for it's notoriety as a modeling capital with world renown agencies and events like Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Miami, an annual event. The Art Basel Miami Beach is an annual art exhibition of contemporary pieces that's known worldwide as "the Olympics of Art" for its size and diverse attendance.

Miami is a city that thrives off f business from tourists. The Cuban immigrants introduced conga, Dominicans brought meringue, Brazilians come with samba, and the Caribbean reggae have blended into a diverse and exciting music scene. The front line of cutting edge music can be heard by famous DJs like DJ Khaled, DJ Laz, and Pitbull. Miami clubs are famous in tv and film.

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