Bensalem Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Bensalem Title Attorneys

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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Pennsylvania

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 considerable 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 commonly, and might have consequences down the road, including title eventually changing to reflect the perceived property lines, without the choice of either neighbor.

However, 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.

In addition to the boundary disputes mentioned above, land owners and buyers in Bensalem, Pennsylvania 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 dispute 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 normally 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 Bensalem, Pennsylvania

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 commonly 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.

A court might do the opposite, and decide to enforce the property lines as they're drawn. This will generally benefit one neighbor and hurt the other. A court will probably do this if one neighbor knew that his land was encroaching onto another person's property, and actively tried to hide that fact from his neighbor. Obviously, such bad behavior shouldn't be rewarded. Conversely, if the neighbor whose land was being encroached upon knew about the discrepancy, and did nothing about it, the court will probably change the property lines to reflect this prior use, to prevent that neighbor from being rewarded for "sitting on his rights."

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

In general, the person who first 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 disagreement.

What Can A Bensalem, Pennsylvania Attorney Do?

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

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Life in Bensalem

Bensalem Township is one of the oldest municipalities in the state of Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1692, and is nearly as old as the state of Pennsylvania, which was founded in 1682. It currently has a population of 58,000 and is rich in American historical facts. Benjamin Franklin is reported to have made his historic electricity kite experiment in Bensalem. Currently Bensalem draws numerous residents and visitors with its many attractions. Some of these include the Philadelphia Park Racetrack, which houses horse races, and the Neshaminy Mall. Several companies such as Rita's Franchise Company and Charming Shoppes have their headquarters in the township. Television shows and movies are frequently filmed in the town. The township is reputed to be a "community of firsts", as it is the site of the many "first" buildings and institutions in Pennsylvania. Historians dispute over the origin of the town's name. Some claim it means "peaceful hill" or "mount of peace", while others state that it means "son of peace". Practicing lawyers in Bensalem can file their cases at the Bucks County District Court or the Court of Common Pleas. Bensalem, Pennsylvania lawyers typically handle a wide variety of civil and criminal legal claims.

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