Albany Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Albany Title Attorneys

Find the right Title & Boundary Dispute attorney in Albany, GA

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Georgia

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.

Nonetheless, it's more common for the neighbor whose land is being encroached upon by the other neighbor to seek enforcement of the legal property lines. The other neighbor will almost certainly want to use the property as he had been, since enforcing the legal property lines would cause him to lose some of "his" land.

Title disputes in Albany, Georgia, on the other hand, involve questions of ownership over an entire parcel of land. This confusion can occasionally arise from improperly recorded deeds, resulting in inadvertent (and, occasionally, deliberate) sales of the same parcel of land to multiple people. Obviously, each buyer wants to be the one who takes title, particularly if it seems unlikely that they'll be able to get their money back. This can lead to some very heated disputes.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Albany, Georgia

One customary resolution for boundary disputes is a court re-drawing the boundaries to fit with what the assumptions that the neighbors were operating under before the error was discovered. This typically happens when both parties were, for many years, aware of the actual property boundaries, and did nothing about it. Moreover, if the neighbor who has been encroaching onto the other neighbor's land has made costly improvements thereto, this weighs in favor of that neighbor, since changing the property lines would impose significant hardship on that neighbor.

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.

When a title dispute comes up in Albany, Georgia, the court has to apply some pretty difficult legal and equitable principles. These rules are sometimes very obscure, mainly because they can trace their origins back hundreds of years, to the common-law courts of England. However, a close examination of them reveals their basic goal: deciding ownership disputes based on longstanding conceptions of basic fairness.

Usually, the person who records the deed first will be the one who takes ownership. Of course, this will only be if they had no reason to know about the other deeds).

What Can A Albany, Georgia Attorney Do?

Because of the high stakes, going it alone in a boundary or title dispute is rarely judicious. Therefore, it's almost always a good idea to get a good Albany, Georgia real estate attorney to help you with such legal problems.

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Life in Albany

Albany, Georgia is located in Dougherty County, where it also serves as the county seat. It has a population of well over 77,000 and is nicknamed "The Good Life City". Production and manufacturing fuel much of the city's economy, and its community life is marked by a number of unique events.

Economically speaking, Albany, Georgia is supported largely by the manufacturing, health care, transportation, education, and retail industries. Top employers for Albany residents include Procter Gamble, Teleperformance USA, MARS Snackfood US, and Thrush Aircraft. Despite Albany's extensive expansion, the city still retains its "Southern town" environment, with many areas still surrounded by pine trees, tree groves, and farmlands.

Residents of Albany enjoy a great number of events and recreation establishment, thus earning the city its nickname of The Good Life City. A few examples of popular Albany events are "Discovery Days", held at The Flint RiverQuarium, and a "Frontier Festival" held the wild animal park. Popular tourist attractions include the civic center, the municipal auditorium, and weekend events such as outdoor farmer's market. Much of the city's art scene revolves around singer Ray Charles, who hailed from Albany.

Lawyers in Albany, Georgia are trained to handle legal issues in a broad range of fields. Many Albany lawyers assist clients at the Dougherty Superior Court, located in Albany. The Superior Court oversees all other courts in the county and also maintains the Dougherty County Law Library.

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