Norman Title Lawyers | Title Attorneys in OK

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Oklahoma

There are times when neighbors will find themselves in a situation where how they've been using their land doesn't match up with the property boundaries that are on record. This can be a source of significant conflict, as one might expect.

In a seemingly-ideal situation, the neighbors will choose to ignore this new revelation, and go on as they always have. Of course, this doesn't happen often, and might have consequences down the road, including title eventually changing to reflect the perceived property lines, without the choice of either neighbor.

In these cases, what often happens is that the owner of the property which is actually larger than he initially believed (due to the property line not being where he thought it was) wants to make use of the further 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 Norman, Oklahoma. 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 Norman, Oklahoma

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 generally regarded 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 an extremely large burden on one neighbor, and re-drawing them to reflect their actual use would put a comparatively small burden on the other 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 (as opposed to the boundary disputes discussed above), a Norman, Oklahoma court has to determine who owns an entire parcel of land. There are some pretty complicated legal issues involved here.

Without delving into the specifics too much, courts usually 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 prevail in a dispute like this, a buyer will generally 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 Norman, Oklahoma 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 Norman, Oklahoma real estate attorney to help you with such legal problems.

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Life in Norman

Norman, Oklahoma is a major city in Cleveland County. It is the county seat and the center of the county's employment and business development. It is located about 20 miles away from Oklahoma City and has a population of about 111,000 people. Norman's economy is driven primarily the research industry and higher education. The University of Oklahoma is located in Norman, Oklahoma and has about 30,000 students enrolled.

Home of the Sooners, the University of Oklahoma is a central point of Norman culture and society. The University employs many Norman residents and contributes much to the research and development industry in the area. Many city events, festivities and sporting events are held at the University of Oklahoma. The largest weekend festival in the state of Oklahoma is the Medieval Fair, which draws crowds of well over 300,000 people. Other popular events include music gatherings such as Groovefest and Jazz in June

In addition to the University of Oklahoma, many other major employers are located in Norman, Oklahoma. These include Sysco Corporation and ATT. Scientific research is also popular in Norman. Examples of scientific ventures in Norman include the Oklahoma Geological Survey and the Oklahoma Renewable Energy Council.

Norman, Oklahoma is a great contributor to the progress of Oklahoma state. Norman lawyers provide a diverse range of legal services and are members of civic and community service organizations. Lawyers in Norman, Oklahoma often assist their clients at the Municipal Court of Norman, located in the city.

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Norman Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Norman Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Oklahoma

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Norman, Oklahoma