New Haven Boundary Dispute Lawyers and New Haven Title Attorneys

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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Connecticut

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.

Thus, neighbors more commonly end up in some type of legal dispute over whether and to what extent the property lines should be enforced. Obviously, when the property lines are changed, one neighbor wins, and the other loses. It should come as no surprise, then, that legal fights are often the result.

Title disputes in New Haven, Connecticut, on the other hand, involve questions of ownership over an entire parcel of land. This confusion can occasionally arise from improperly recorded deeds, resulting in inadvertent (and, occasionally, deliberate) sales of the same parcel of land to multiple people. Obviously, each buyer wants to be the one who takes title, particularly if it seems unlikely that they'll be able to get their money back. This can lead to some very heated disputes.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in New Haven, Connecticut

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 case 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 determine 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 majority of them boil down to common-sense principles of fairness. For instance, 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 likely won't enforce them.

With title disputes, a court has to decide who owns a particular piece of land. There are many factors that a court will consider, and this decision is governed by some fairly complicated laws in New Haven, Connecticut.

Suffice to say, you'll want the assistance of an expert on this subject. In general, however, you should know that courts almost always rule in favor of the buyer who first recorded the deed, AND (not "or") didn't have knowledge of any previous conveyances. This protects the buyer who was most diligent in vindicating his own rights, and acted in good faith (obviously, a buyer who knew about a previous sale of the same land isn't acting honestly).

What Can A New Haven, Connecticut Attorney Do?

The legal problems that can come up in boundary and title disputes can get very intricate. Given this fact, and the high stakes of such disputes, most people shouldn't approach these issues without good legal representation. It should therefore go without saying that the counsel of a reliable New Haven, Connecticut real estate attorney is essential in most of these disputes.

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Life in New Haven

New Haven, Connecticut is located in New Haven County. With a population of over 129,000, it is the second largest city in Connecticut. New Haven is known for being home to Yale University, an Ivy League school. The city has been nicknamed "The City of Elms" due to its extensive canopy of trees.

Aside from Yale University, New Haven's economy is driven by health care facilities, financial companies, retail, and professional services (legal and engineering). The downtown New Haven area has been described as an "upscale downtown", as it is more residential in character than most typical downtowns. In particular, the New Haven Green community has been revitalized to include condominiums and apartment complexes. The downtown area also has many retail stores and restaurants, making it an ideal scene for the nightlife.

In addition to its highly intellectual and political culture, New Haven offers some of the nation's best cuisines. A popular local favorite is New Haven pizza, called "apizza", which comes in several variations. Downtown has been recognized as serving the country's "finest Spanish food". New Haven has also served as home for several presidents, Bill Clinton, William Howard Taft, Gerald Ford, and the Bush family.

New Haven, Connecticut lawyers offer services to meet the city's unique legal needs. Lawyers in New Haven practice law in many fields and are familiar with the laws of Connecticut. New Haven County operates its own local bar association apart from the state Connecticut Bar Association.

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