Thousand Oaks Title Lawyers | Title Attorneys in 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 actually 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 Thousand Oaks, 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). Usually, 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 Thousand Oaks, California

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 considered 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 a very large burden on one neighbor, and re-drawing them to reflect their actual use would put a comparatively small burden on the other neighbor

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 Thousand Oaks, California courts have many options when it comes to resolving title disputes. However, these disputes are usually governed by some fairly complex (and old) legal principles. While they're generally 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 going into too much detail, the person who recorded their deed first will be the one who takes ownership, provided he or she did not know (or had no reason to know) of the existence of the other deed.

What Can A Thousand Oaks, California Attorney Do?

Real property disputes typically involve very old legal principles that can even confound lawyers who aren't experts in real estate law. For that reason, you should almost always hire an expert Thousand Oaks, California real estate attorney, who will help you navigate these murky legal waters.

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Life in Thousand Oaks

Thousand Oaks, California is a master-planned city located in Ventura California. It is named after the abundance of oak trees in the city. Thousand Oaks contains about 2,000 single family residences, an industrial park, a regional shopping center, and various neighborhood retail centers.

The local economy of Thousand Oaks consists of numerous businesses, namely biotechnology, electronics and telecommunications, and cosmetics. Major corporations in Thousand Oaks include Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Amgen, Inc., Jafra Cosmetics, and a Verizon Regional Office. These companies, along with many other employers, attract a large number of residents and commuters to the city.

Popular destinations in Thousand Oaks, California include: the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Center, Wildwood Regional Park, and The Oaks Shopping Center. Many national store chains establish new locations in Thousand Oaks when expanding to the West Coast, as the city is often at the forefront of fashion and retail trends. Due to its location in the northwest region of the Greater Los Angeles Area, many famous actors, singers, and celebrity superstars chose to live in Thousand Oaks. These have included Colbie Caillat, Heather Locklear, Sophia Lauren, and Dean Martin.

In order to meet the needs of the community, lawyers in Thousand Oaks, California offer services in many different areas of law. Thousand Oaks lawyers handle legal matters that are sometimes unique to the region. Legal advice is available for those with questions about the laws in Thousand Oaks.

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Thousand Oaks Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Thousand Oaks Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in California

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Thousand Oaks, California