Racine Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Racine Title Attorneys

Find the right Title & Boundary Dispute attorney in Racine, WI

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Wisconsin

Occasionally, neighbors will discover that the way they've been using their land doesn't conform with the property lines that the local government has on record. When they find out, the situation has to be resolved somehow. In such cases, there is usually a winner and a loser, so conflict is likely to arise.

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.

It's more commonly the case that one neighbor wants to maintain the current use of the land, property lines notwithstanding, while the other neighbor wants to enforce the property lines that are on record. This is because moving a property line necessarily expands the land of one neighbor, while shrinking the land of another. Obviously, the neighbor whose land would be shrunk will probably oppose any attempt to enforce the property lines.

People in Racine, Wisconsin should also be aware of the possibility of title (ownership) disputes. Unlike the boundary disputes discussed above, the outcome of a title dispute can determine who owns an entire parcel of real property. Confusion over who actually owns a piece of property is more common that some people might imagine. Many local property records are still kept on paper, are not very well-organized, and sometimes date back a hundred years or more. A lost or misfiled deed is the most common way for a title dispute to arise. However, sometimes fraud on the part of a seller can lead to title disputes. Unscrupulous individuals will sometimes try to sell the same piece of land to more than one person. And some people even try to sell property they don't own, occasionally succeeding (and this isn't just limited to bridges in London). Normally, once the buyers discover they've been duped, the "seller" is nowhere to be found, leaving them to figure out who owns the land they all thought they had purchased.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Racine, Wisconsin

One way to resolve boundary disputes is to simply re-draw the property lines to reflect what the neighbors thought they were all along. When this happens, nobody's situation changes, and it's typically considered a neutral result (causing no significant loss or gain to either party). This is often done if both of the neighbors knew about the actual property lines for many years, and didn't do anything about it. A court might also take this course of action if enforcing the property lines would impose a considerable hardship on one of the parties, not outweighed by the overall benefits of doing so.

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 Racine, Wisconsin 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.

Typically, the person who records the deed first will be the one who takes ownership. Of course, this will only be if they had no reason to know about the other deeds).

What Can A Racine, Wisconsin Attorney Do?

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

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Racine

Racine is located in Racine County, Wisconsin. It is well-recognized because of its location being near to popular sites such as the beautiful Lake Michigan, Root River, Milwaukee and Chicago.

Popular attractions include the Wind Point Lighthouse, S.C. Johnson and Son Administration Building and Research Tower, Racine Zoological Gardens, Thomas P. Hardy House, and Historic Horlick Field.

Famous celebrity athletes from Racine include Bob Foster, Steve Hanson, Don Heinkel, Ed Killian, Jesse Marsch, Brent Moss, Leo Murphy, Alex Scales, Tim Van Galder and Al Zupek.

Racine is also home to many attorneys who actively practice and are capable of handling the legal needs of residents and local businesses. Thus, no one has to travel far from Racine to have their legal needs taken care of.

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