Colorado Springs Title Lawyers | Title Attorneys in CO

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Colorado

Finding out that property lines are improperly drawn and learning that you have been partially occupying your neighbor's land, or vice versa, can cause some very 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 especially 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, nonetheless, cause problems in the future - preventing a neighbor from enforcing the actual property lines, if they suddenly have a reason to do so.

It's more frequently 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 likely oppose any attempt to enforce the property lines.

In Colorado Springs, Colorado, property can also be the subject of title disputes, rather than boundary disputes described above. These types of disagreements stem from disagreements over who owns a piece of property. Confusion in this area is more prevalent than one might think. If a deed is improperly recorded, land can be "owned" by 2 people simultaneously. Even more troublesome is when land is "sold" to more than one person. This is typically inadvertent, but some people do it deliberately, hoping to abscond the profits acquired by selling the same thing twice. In cases like this, a court has to determine which buyer owns the land. This is a big deal, considering how unlikely it is that a defrauded buyer could get his or her money back.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Colorado Springs, Colorado

One possible result 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.

A court may do the opposite, and decide to enforce the property lines as they're drawn. This will always 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 actions 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 likely change the property lines to reflect this prior use, to prevent that neighbor from being rewarded for "sitting on his rights."

When a title dispute comes up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the court has to apply some pretty complex legal and equitable principles. These rules are sometimes very obscure, mainly because they can trace their origins back hundreds of years, to the common-law courts of England. However, a close examination of them reveals their basic goal: deciding ownership disputes based on longstanding conceptions of basic fairness.

In general, the person who initially 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 conflict.

What Can A Colorado Springs, Colorado Attorney Do?

As you might have gathered, it's not uncommon for the legal issues controlling boundary and title disputes to get very complicated. Moreover, any dispute that can affect one's use or ownership of land has very high stakes (land isn't typically cheap, after all). Therefore, it shouldn't come as a surprise that hiring a competent Colorado Springs, Colorado real estate lawyer to help in situations like this is always a good idea.

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

(where you need legal help)

Can't find a category?

Life in Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs is the seat of El Paso County and is known as Money Magazine's "best big city to live in" and Outside Magazine named it number one in their 2009 list of America's best cities. Peterson Air Force Base, Falcon Air Force Base, and the Air Force Space Command are all located in Colorado Springs and draw a number of U.S. Service men and women. In fact, the famed NORAD was based in to Cheyenne Mountain overlooking the city. The armed forces including Fort Carson, Peterson Air Force Base, the United States Air Force Academy, and Schriever Air Force Base employ over 20% of the city's population.

It may be obvious to you then, Colorado Springs is home to a number of defense industry professionals from aerospace and missile defense to communications and engineering. Beoing, L-3 Communications, and General Dynamics all have major installations in Colorado Springs alongside the likes of Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. The high tech boom in Colorado Springs has ushered in companies like Verizon Business, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Agilent. The companies range from software design to computer chip manufacturing and testing.

Find a Lawyer

that specializes in your area of need

Real Estate Attorneys

in other Colorado cities and towns

Clients Rate LegalMatch Attorneys
(click to read reviews)

Nicholas M.

Real Estate, Housing & Property Law

Golden, CO

Carl M.

Real Estate, Housing & Property Law

Seattle, WA

David A.

Real Estate, Housing & Property Law

Walnut Creek, CA

Choose Your Legal Category:

Choose Your Legal Category:

LegalMatch Resources

Colorado Springs Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Colorado Springs Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Colorado

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Colorado Springs, Colorado