Santa Barbara Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Santa Barbara Title Attorneys

Find the right Title & Boundary Dispute attorney in Santa Barbara, CA

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in California

Finding out that property lines are improperly drawn and learning that you have been partially occupying your neighbor's land, or vice versa, can create some fairly serious legal issues.

Sometimes, neighbors will decide amongst themselves that the issue isn't worth fighting over, and will go on as they did before. This is particularly likely if the neighbors are on good terms, and the difference between their use of the land, and the actual property lines, is small (say, a few feet or less). This is an ideal situation, at least in the short term. It can, however, cause problems in the future - preventing a neighbor from enforcing the actual property lines, if they suddenly have a reason to do so.

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

People in Santa Barbara, California 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). Typically, 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 Santa Barbara, California

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.

Of course, there are plenty of reasons why a court might decide to enforce the property lines as the records indicate. If one neighbor knew about the discrepancy, and hid it from the other neighbor (presumably because the neighbor with the knowledge of the discrepancy benefited from it), a court will, of course, not reward this kind of dishonesty, and will decide against that neighbor. On the other hand, if the neighbor whose land would be expanded by enforcing the "real" property boundaries knew this fact, and took no action for many years, a court will probably not be receptive if he or she suddenly tries to enforce them. This is referred to as "sitting on one's rights," and courts will not reward this, either. If you have a legal right, you're expected to make efforts to vindicate it as soon as possible. If you don't, a court will typically say "I guess it wasn't that important to you if you waited 10 years to bring this to our attention. Next case."

In the case of disputes over title, courts have to figure out who owns a particular piece of real property. Courts will consider many factors, and there are some complex and (in some cases) antiquated legal issues that guide Santa Barbara, California courts on these matters.

Usually, 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 Santa Barbara, California 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 Santa Barbara, California real estate attorney to help you with such legal problems.

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California is a city in Santa Barbara County, where it also serves as the county seat. It currently has a population of about 88,000 people.

Santa Barbara, California is known for being host to one of the very few military engagements of World War II to occur on the continental United States. In 1942, a Japanese submarine surfaced off the coast of Santa Barbara, and fired several shots at the Ellwood oil refinery. There were no injuries. Although there was no evidence that collaboration or espionage by any U.S. residents played a role in the attack, the incident was used by the government to justify the internment of Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast, a decisions which is now remembered as one of the low points in America's history.

After World War II, many of the servicemen who served in the war, and disembarked from Santa Barbara, California moved into the city permanently. This caused a population boom. Many of these servicemen went on to college, and became successful professionals in Santa Barbara, California, some of them lawyers.

If you live in Santa Barbara, California and are in need of an attorney, it's very likely that there's a Santa Barbara, California attorney who can provide assistance.

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