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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in New Jersey

Sometimes, neighbors will find out that their use of their land (or what they thought was their land) is not reflected in the actual property lines on record. Obviously, this can create a problem.

Ideally, the neighbors could just ignore the situation, and go on as they had before, effectively agreeing to change the property lines to reflect their past use. This doesn't always happen, however. Additionally, such a course of action is not free of issues, and could eventually result in ownership of the land legally changing to reflect the past use, even if one of the neighbors opposes this.

Consequently, neighbors more frequently 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.

In addition to the boundary disputes mentioned above, land owners and buyers in Paterson, New Jersey should also be aware of the possibility of a title dispute. Rather than being a disagreement over the exact boundaries between two pieces of land, a title dispute is a conflict over who actually owns an entire plot of land. Uncertainty over ownership of land can come up more often than you might think, and is most often caused by a buyer's failure to correctly record a deed, or the accidental loss or destruction of a deed. Sometimes, however, these disputes can be more dishonest in origin: on occasion, unscrupulous sellers of land will attempt to sell the same parcel to more than one person. Obviously, once you've sold land to one person, you can't sell the same land to someone else, as you no longer own it. These tricksters know this, but are attempting to gain a large amount of money through the multiple sales. Once this is done, they typically attempt to flee the state or country before the buyers discovery they've been duped. This leaves it up to the buyers to figure out amongst themselves who owns the land.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Paterson, New Jersey

One possible outcome 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.

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.

In Paterson, New Jersey courts have many options when it comes to resolving title disputes. However, these disputes are usually governed by some fairly confusing (and old) legal principles. While they're usually built around policies that most people would find to be quite fair and reasonable, their application can be nearly impenetrable, even for some lawyers.

Without delving into the details 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 Paterson, New Jersey Attorney Do?

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

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Life in Paterson

Paterson, New Jersey is the county seat of Passaic County. It has a population of about 147,000 people, making it the third largest city in New Jersey.

Paterson, NJ became known as the "silk city" in the late 19th Century, due to its dominance in the silk-production industry. Paterson, NJ became a major center for other industries in the 20th century, thanks in large part to the presence of the Great Falls, a large waterfall on the Passaic River, which provided much of the energy needed for factories and other heavy industries in Paterson, NJ.

Modernly, Great Falls, NJ is part of an Urban Enterprise Zone, which is a designation under New Jersey Law that stimulates economic growth in areas where it's needed, through reduced sales tax, a fast-track process for obtaining business licenses, and financial incentives, such as tax credits, for businesses that hire new workers. Many Paterson, NJ lawyers were involved in drafting these rules, as well as getting portions of Paterson, NJ designated as such.

Paterson is known for being the residence of Paterson, NJ lawyer Edward Masry, who led the lawsuit against PGE, which was dramatized in the film "Erin Brockovich."

There are many other Paterson, NJ lawyers who can help you with whatever legal issue you may be facing. If you believe that you might need legal representation, there's a very good chance that a Paterson, NJ lawyer can help you.

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Paterson Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Paterson Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in New Jersey

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Paterson, New Jersey