Alpharetta Title Lawyers | Title Attorneys in GA

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Georgia

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.

It's usually possible, though not always easy, for neighbors to come to a resolution of these disputes on their own. If the neighbors happen to like one another, and the difference between the actual property lines and what they believed the property lines to be is very small (a foot or two, for example), they might simply decide to go on as they had before. This is certainly a desirable solution in the short term, since it saves everyone a great deal of time and energy. However, in the long term, this can cause problems, particularly if one neighbor decides they want to enforce the legal property lines down the road.

However, it's more common for the neighbor whose land is being encroached upon by the other neighbor to seek enforcement of the legal property lines. The other neighbor will almost certainly want to use the property as he had been, since enforcing the legal property lines would cause him to lose some of "his" land.

Title disputes in Alpharetta, Georgia, on the other hand, involve questions of ownership over an entire parcel of land. This confusion can sometimes 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, especially 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 Alpharetta, Georgia

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.

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 complex laws in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Without delving into the details too much, courts usually resolve title disputes by looking at who recorded the deed first, and whether or not that person had notice of any prior sales of the same land. To prevail in a dispute like this, a buyer will generally need to prove that they were the first to record their deed, and that they had no notice (or reason to know) of any prior conveyances of the same land.

What Can A Alpharetta, Georgia Attorney Do?

As you might have gathered, it's not uncommon for the legal issues governing boundary and title disputes to get very complicated. Furthermore, any dispute that can affect one's use or ownership of land has very high stakes (land isn't usually cheap, after all). Therefore, it shouldn't come as a surprise that hiring a competent Alpharetta, Georgia 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 Alpharetta

Alpharetta, Georgia is a medium-sized city in Fulton County. It has a population of approximately 65,000 residents, and is known for being one of the most affluent cities in Georgia. It is also home to a huge number of businesses, for a city its size. During the workweek, employees of these businesses commute to the city, and its population balloons to over 120,000 people.

The huge number of employers Alpharetta, Georgia means that Alpharetta, Georgia lawyers are kept busy. Because of this large number of employers, the economy of Alpharetta, Georgia is quite vibrant, and while not untouched by the recent recession, endured it better than many other places in the U.S.

For this reason, Forbes Magazine, in 2009, named Alpharetta, Georgia as the #1 "reloville" in the U.S. By this, they mean it is one of the best places for professionals to relocate to in order to improve their economic situation. Perhaps testifying to this fact, about 70% of this city's residents were born someplace else.

Of course, where there are many businesses, there are going to be a lot of lawyers.

Alpharetta, Georgia lawyers are experienced in a wide variety of legal areas. In a thriving community such as Alpharetta, they have to be if they wish to state competitive.

Accordingly, if you need to hire an Alpharetta, Georgia lawyer, you probably won't have much trouble finding one who can handle your legal issue, at an agreeable price.

Find a Lawyer

that specializes in your area of need

Real Estate Attorneys

in other Georgia 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

Alpharetta Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Alpharetta Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Georgia

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Alpharetta, Georgia