Pensacola Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Pensacola 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 create some fairly serious legal issues.

It's normally 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 extremely 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. However, 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 really larger than he initially believed (due to the property line not being where he thought it was) wants to make use of the additional 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 Pensacola, 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 normally 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 really owns the land that each of them thought they had just bought. Obviously, whoever loses this dispute will normally 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 Pensacola, Florida

Courts have many tools at their disposal to resolve boundary disputes. One way is to simply re-draw the property lines to reflect how the neighbors had been using the land before the discrepancy was discovered. This doesn't truly change the position of either neighbor, and is sometimes the fairest result. This is most commonly done because the neighbors were both aware of the legal property lines, and that they differed from how they were using the land, and went on using the land anyway.

Of course, there are plenty of reasons why a court might decide to enforce the property lines as the records indicate. If one neighbor knew about the discrepancy, and hid it from the other neighbor (presumably because the neighbor with the knowledge of the discrepancy benefited from it), a court will, of course, not reward this kind of dishonesty, and will decide against that neighbor. On the other hand, if the neighbor whose land would be expanded by enforcing the "real" property boundaries knew this fact, and took no action for many years, a court will probably not be receptive if he or she suddenly tries to enforce them. This is referred to as "sitting on one's rights," and courts will not reward this, either. If you have a legal right, you're expected to make efforts to vindicate it as soon as possible. If you don't, a court will basically say "I guess it wasn't that important to you if you waited 10 years to bring this to our attention. Next case."

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

Without going into too much detail, the person who recorded their deed first will be the one who takes ownership, provided he or she did not know (or had no reason to know) of the existence of the other deed.

What Can A Pensacola, Florida Attorney Do?

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

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Pensacola

Pensacola is one of the cities i the "Florida Panhandle" of Escambia County, Florida. The population is around 460,000 people.

What makes Pensacola a key city of Florida is that it is a sea port on the Pensacola Bay, connecting Florida to the Gulf of Mexico. Also, Pensacola is nicknamed "The City of Five Flags" because five governments (Spain, France, Great Britain, the U.S., and the Confederate States of America) have flown flags over it. Pensacola does not have just one nickname. It has many! Other nicknames include "World's Whitest Beaches," "Cradle of Naval Aviation," "Western Gate to the Sunshine State," "American's First Settlement," "Redneck Riviera," "Emerald Coast," "Red Snapper Capital of the World," and "P-Cola." From the long list of nicknames, it is evident that Pensacola is a city rich with history, innovation, and culture.

The economy primarily comprises of the health care, military, and tourism industries. As for the legal industry, Pensacola is also home to many small to mid size law firms practicing in many areas of law.

One of Pensacola's most popular attraction is the National Naval Aviation Museum. Other popular spots include the Pensacola Civic Center, Saenger Theater, and the Pensacola Opera.

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