Brockton Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Brockton Title Attorneys

Find the right Title & Boundary Dispute attorney in Brockton, MA

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Massachusetts

If you discover that you and your neighbor's use of your respective properties do not reflect the legal property lines, this can create a problem.

Sometimes, neighbors will decide amongst themselves that the issue isn't worth fighting over, and will go on as they did before. This is particularly likely if the neighbors are on good terms, and the difference between their use of the land, and the actual property lines, is small (say, a few feet or less). This is an ideal situation, at least in the short term. It can, however, cause problems in the future - preventing a neighbor from enforcing the actual property lines, if they suddenly have a reason to do so.

Thus, neighbors more commonly end up in some type of legal dispute over whether and to what extent the property lines should be enforced. Obviously, when the property lines are changed, one neighbor wins, and the other loses. It should come as no surprise, then, that legal fights are often the result.

Title disputes in Brockton, Massachusetts, on the other hand, involve questions of ownership over an entire parcel of land. This confusion can sometimes 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, especially 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 Brockton, Massachusetts

There are many ways to resolve boundary disputes. One way is to change the legal property lines to reflect the use that the neighbors had been making of the land before the discrepancy was discovered. This is typically considered a sort of "neutral" result - nobody's situation changes. If both neighbors knew about the real boundaries for a very long time, and did nothing about it, a court may view this as them having acquiesced to the status quo, and decide that it would be unfair to force the neighbors to change their use of the land after such a long period of time. This might also be done if enforcing the property lines would place a very large burden on one neighbor, and re-drawing them to reflect their actual use would put a comparatively small burden on the other neighbor

On the other hand, a court could decide to take the opposite approach, and order the neighbors to abide by the legal property lines. When deciding which course of action to take, courts consider many factors, but most of them boil down to common-sense principles of fairness. For example, if the owner of the land who was encroaching onto his neighbor's land knew of the encroachment, and hid this fact from the other neighbor (hoping to continue to use more land than he paid for), that will weigh heavily in favor of enforcing the legal property lines. On the other hand, if neither neighbor knew about the error, and it turns out that the actual property line goes through somebody's living room, a court probably won't enforce them.

With title disputes (as opposed to the boundary disputes discussed above), a Brockton, Massachusetts court has to determine who owns an entire parcel of land. There are some pretty perplexing legal issues involved here.

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 Brockton, Massachusetts Attorney Do?

The legal problems that can come up in boundary and title disputes can get very difficult. Given this fact, and the high stakes of such disputes, most people shouldn't approach these problems without good legal representation. It should therefore go without saying that the counsel of a reputable Brockton, Massachusetts real estate attorney is essential in most of these disputes.

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Life in Brockton

Brockton is located in Plymouth County, Massachusetts with a population of around 93,810 people. Brockton is the seventh largest city in Massachusetts. It is nicknamed the "City of Champions" due to the success of resident boxers Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler. Brockton High School's sports programs are also very successful, and also contribute to the city's nicknames.

What is interesting is that in 2005, 2008, and 2010, Brockton was named as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People. This award is given by America's Promise Alliance. Some reasons for this award is Brockton's dedication to education, mentoring, and volunteerism.

There are some great attractions to check out in Brockton. Such places include the Audubon Conservation Area, Brockton Fire Museum, Campanelli Stadium, D.W. Field Park, Franklin Block, Petronelli Way, Sacco Vanzetti Museum, and the SOuth Street Historic District.

Brockton is also filled with attorneys who are devoted to their practice, and who can adequately fulfill the legal needs of Brockton residents.

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