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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 cause some very 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. Nonetheless, in the long term, this can cause problems, particularly if one neighbor decides they want to enforce the legal property lines down the road.

Nonetheless, 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.

In Griffin, Georgia, 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 common 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 usually 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 Griffin, Georgia

Courts have many tools at their disposal to resolve boundary disputes. One way is to just re-draw the property lines to reflect how the neighbors had been using the land before the discrepancy was discovered. This doesn't really change the position of either neighbor, and is sometimes the fairest result. This is most often done because the neighbors were both aware of the legal property lines, and that they differed from how they were using the land, and went on using the land anyway.

Nonetheless, a court might also enforce the legal property boundaries, particularly if failing to do so would place a significant burden on the owner of the encroached-upon land. If the owner of the encroaching land knew of the encroachment, and concealed it from his neighbor, this fact would further weigh heavily in favor of enforcing the legal property lines.

With title disputes (as opposed to the boundary disputes discussed above), a Griffin, Georgia court has to determine who owns an entire parcel of land. There are some pretty confusing legal issues involved here.

Without delving into the specifics 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 Griffin, Georgia Attorney Do?

Because of the high stakes, going it alone in a boundary or title dispute is rarely judicious. Therefore, it's almost always a good idea to get a good Griffin, Georgia real estate attorney to help you with such legal problems.

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Life in Griffin

Griffin is the county seat of Spalding County in the state of Georgia. It has a population of about 23,000 and prides itself in preserving its rich history revolving around early American colonial life.

Griffin is also known as "the Iris City" and is famous for being the birthplace of Wild West gunslinger Doc Holliday, who was a friend of the legendary Wyatt Earp. The city has several museums which showcase artifacts and relics dating back to the 1800's. These include the Griffin Museum and the Doc Holliday Museum.

Popular places to visit in Griffin are the Sam Bailey Building, the Old Medical College Historical Area, and Hawkes Library. The city holds many events year-round such as the Fourth of July Parade, the November Chili Cook-off, the April Arts and Crafts Festival, and the Annual Chamber of Commerce Dinner.

Downtown Griffin is unique in that it incorporates what is known as the "Main Street Four-Point Approach". This is a strategy that focuses on the distinct areas of Design, Promotion, Organization, and Economic Restructuring.

Lawyers in Griffin, Georgia typically file their cases at the Griffin Municipal Court. More advanced claims are heard at the Spalding County Superior Court. Griffin lawyers generally handle a wide variety of legal claims and issues. The Spalding County Courthouse was also an historical landmark in Georgia.

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Griffin Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Griffin Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Georgia

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Griffin, Georgia