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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Minnesota

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

In these instances, neighbors usually have the option to resolve the dispute by themselves. If the neighbors are on amicable terms with each other, and the dispute is minor (for example, it only involves a difference of a couple feet), and enforcing the property lines would be a major inconvenience for one or both of the neighbors, they'll probably decide to just go on as they had before. This is a viable option, to be sure, but it's not a perfect one: if, sometime down the road, one of the neighbors wants to attempt to enforce the legal boundaries, they might find themselves unable to do so.

Usually, when this happens, the owner of the property which is being encroached upon wants to expand their property to reflect the legal boundaries, and the owner of the land that will be shrunk by recognizing the legal property lines will want to keep the situation as it is.

While the boundary disputes discussed above occur fairly regularly, they aren't the only type of land dispute that can happen in Burnsville, Minnesota. 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 usually 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 actually owns the land that each of them thought they had just bought. Obviously, whoever loses this dispute will usually 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 Burnsville, Minnesota

One common 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 usually happens when both parties were, for many years, aware of the actual property boundaries, and did nothing about it. Furthermore, 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 several possible reasons, might decide to give effect to the legally-recorded property lines, which would necessarily 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.

With title disputes, a court has to decide who owns a particular piece of land. There are many factors that a court will consider, and this decision is governed by some fairly complex laws in Burnsville, Minnesota.

In general, the person who initially recorded the deed at the appropriate government office will be the one who the court deems to own the land, if they didn't have any reason to know about the existence of the other deed, or other sale, or whatever else gave rise to the title dispute.

What Can A Burnsville, Minnesota Attorney Do?

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

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Life in Burnsville

Burnsville, Minnesota is a city directly south of Minneapolis, located in Dakota County. It has a population of just under 60,000, according to a 2007 Census estimate.

Burnsville, Minnesota is home to one of the largest shopping malls in the region, the Burnsville Center, which boasts over 1 million square feet of retail space.

Burnsville, Minnesota has a long and storied history. The first humans to populate the area were the Mdewakanton Dakota Indians, who likely lived in the area for hundreds, if not thousands, of years before the arrival of the first European settlers.

Modernly, Burnsville, Maryland has been on the forefront of the "smart growth" movement, with new projects in its downtown area being cetered around the principles of making the city more attractive, environmentally friendly, less sprawling, and more accessible to cyclists and pedestrians.

This forward-thinking attitude is likely to serve Burnsville, Maryland quite well in the future. Large amounts of foot traffic tend to make an area more attractive to small businesses, especially restaurants and retailers, and this is on top of the positive health and environmental effects of walking or cylcing, instead of driving.

Of course, as in any city, the lawyers of Burnsville, Maryland must also be able to handlemany types oflegal problems. If you have any legal problem, it's likely that there is at least one Burnsville, Maryland lawyer who can help you.

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Burnsville Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Burnsville Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Minnesota

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Burnsville, Minnesota