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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Maryland

If you know that you and your neighbor's use of your respective properties do not reflect the legal property lines, this can cause a problem.

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.

Usually, when this happens, the owner of the property which is being encroached upon wants to expand their property to reflect the legal boundaries, and the owner of the land that will be shrunk by recognizing the legal property lines will want to keep the situation as it is.

In Aberdeen, Maryland, 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 Aberdeen, Maryland

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 generally 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 significant hardship on one of the parties, not outweighed by the overall benefits of doing so.

Of course, there are plethora of reasons why a court might determine to enforce the property lines as the records indicate. If one neighbor knew about the discrepancy, and hid it from the other neighbor (presumably because the neighbor with the knowledge of the discrepancy benefited from it), a court will, of course, not reward this kind of dishonesty, and will decide against that neighbor. On the other hand, if the neighbor whose land would be expanded by enforcing the "real" property boundaries knew this fact, and took no action for many years, a court will probably not be receptive if he or she suddenly tries to enforce them. This is referred to as "sitting on one's rights," and courts will not reward this, either. If you have a legal right, you're expected to make efforts to vindicate it as soon as possible. If you don't, a court will essentially say "I guess it wasn't that important to you if you waited 10 years to bring this to our attention. Next case."

In Aberdeen, Maryland courts have many options when it comes to resolving title disputes. However, these disputes are usually controlled by some fairly perplexing (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.

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 dispute.

What Can A Aberdeen, Maryland 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 Aberdeen, Maryland real estate attorney to help you with such legal problems.

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Life in Aberdeen

Aberdeen is a city located in Hartford County, Maryland. It has a population of around 14,000 people.

Aberdeen, Maryland is named after Aberdeen, Scotland.

Aberdeen, Maryland is home to the Aberdeen Proving Ground, which, starting in World War I, was used to by the army as a bomb-testing range. However, its use for that purpose is decreasing. A large portion of the former proving ground is being leased to commercial developers, which is expected to provide a major economic boon for the region.

The Aberdeen Proving Ground is still an active military base, despite the fact that some of it is being leased. An active military base, especially in a smaller community, is going to influence the culture of that community. Because service members from all over the country tend to be stationed on military bases, they bring their own unique character to the area where the base is located.

In addition to the obvious economic benefits that a large, constant consumer base creates, the diversity that such a facility brings in tends to have intangible benefits, as well.

The attorneys of Aberdeen, Maryland are experienced in working with a wide variety of clients, on a large number of different issues.

Whatever legal issue, you might have to deal with, it's probable that an Aberdeen, Maryland lawyer will be able to help.

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Aberdeen Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Aberdeen Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Maryland

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Aberdeen, Maryland