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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 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.

Therefore, neighbors more often 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 Statesboro, 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 Statesboro, Georgia

One common resolution for boundary disputes is a court re-drawing the boundaries to fit with what the assumptions that the neighbors were operating under before the error was discovered. This usually happens when both parties were, for many years, aware of the actual property boundaries, and did nothing about it. Furthermore, if the neighbor who has been encroaching onto the other neighbor's land has made costly improvements thereto, this weighs in favor of that neighbor, since changing the property lines would impose significant hardship on that neighbor.

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

In Statesboro, Georgia 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 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 Statesboro, Georgia Attorney Do?

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

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Life in Statesboro

Statesboro, Georgia is home to almost 70,000 residents. In addition to being one of the larger cities in the state of Georgia, Statesboro is also home to Georgia Southern University, a presence which gives the city a charming college town feel. The University also happens to be the city's largest employer. Many students that come to Statesboro for college or graduate school decide to stay in the southern city, which explains the young population of Statesboro. Statesboro is located on 12.6 square miles and has an economy heavily dependent on agriculture. Statesboro is also home to WalMart's largest distribution center in the world. Statesborohas also been featured in movies such as Now and Then and 1969. The Statesboro newspaper industry has received local and national recognition for its innovation in online technologies. The thriving college community makes for many great lawyers to liveand practice in Statesboro. Statesboro lawyers range in their specialties and are skilled in any legal issue a client may be dealing with.The local lawyers in Statesboro are just one more aspect of Statesboro that makes it a wonderful city to live in.

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Statesboro Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Statesboro Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Georgia

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Statesboro, Georgia