Grand Rapids Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Grand Rapids Title Attorneys

Find the right Title & Boundary Dispute attorney in Grand Rapids, MI

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Michigan

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 normally 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 extremely 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.

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 Grand Rapids, Michigan, 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 Grand Rapids, Michigan

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.

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 basically say "I guess it wasn't that important to you if you waited 10 years to bring this to our attention. Next case."

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 Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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 Grand Rapids, Michigan Attorney Do?

The legal issues surrounding title and boundary disagreements can get pretty difficult, and there are normally very high stakes involved (most people think their land is pretty important). For that reason, a good Grand Rapids, Michigan real estate attorney will prove invaluable if such a dispute arises.

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids, MI is a city serving as the county seat of Kent County. It is a fairly large city, with a population of slightly under 200,000 people. Human habitation of the area now known as Grand Rapids can be traced back at least 2,000 years, when elements of the Hopewell Culture (a large group of tribes which extended from Canada down the Southeastern U.S., which developed cultural similarities through centuries of trade) lived in the area. By about 1700AD, the Ottawa Indians had moved into the area, and established a permanent presence. Europeans first reached Grand Rapids in the early 1800s, with the first settlers being missionaries and fur traders. In the early 20th Century, Grand Rapids, Michigan became known as "the furniture city" due to its large natural supply of lumber, which lead many famous furniture manufacturers and designers to set up shop there.Modernly, furniture and automotive industries still maintain a presence in Grand Rapids, Michigan. However, their presence has gradually waned over the past decades.

If you live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and need a good attorney, chances are good that you can find one. Grand Rapids, Michigan lawyers are very qualified to handle virtually any case that comes into their door.

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