Asheville Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Asheville Title Attorneys

Find the right Title & Boundary Dispute attorney in Asheville, NC

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in North Carolina

Sometimes, neighbors will find out that their use of their land (or what they thought was their land) is not reflected in the actual property lines on record. Obviously, this can create a problem.

In a seemingly-ideal situation, the neighbors will choose to ignore this new revelation, and go on as they always have. Of course, this doesn't happen often, and might have consequences down the road, including title eventually changing to reflect the perceived property lines, without the choice of either neighbor.

It's more often the case that one neighbor wants to maintain the current use of the land, property lines notwithstanding, while the other neighbor wants to enforce the property lines that are on record. This is because moving a property line necessarily expands the land of one neighbor, while shrinking the land of another. Obviously, the neighbor whose land would be shrunk will probably oppose any attempt to enforce the property lines.

People in Asheville, North Carolina should also be aware of the possibility of title (ownership) disputes. Unlike the boundary disputes discussed above, the outcome of a title dispute can determine who owns an entire parcel of real property. Confusion over who actually owns a piece of property is more common that some people might imagine. Many local property records are still kept on paper, are not very well-organized, and sometimes date back a hundred years or more. A lost or misfiled deed is the most common way for a title dispute to arise. However, sometimes fraud on the part of a seller can lead to title disputes. Unscrupulous individuals will sometimes try to sell the same piece of land to more than one person. And some people even try to sell property they don't own, occasionally succeeding (and this isn't just limited to bridges in London). Usually, once the buyers discover they've been duped, the "seller" is nowhere to be found, leaving them to figure out who owns the land they all thought they had purchased.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Asheville, North Carolina

One possible outcome of a boundary dispute is a court effectively re-drawing the boundaries to fit what the neighbors had perceived. This is most often done if the neighbors were aware for a long time of the "real" property lines, and didn't do anything about it. It also helps if the neighbor who is encroaching makes major improvements to the land, and enforcing the new property lines would place a major burden on him.

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.

In Asheville, North Carolina 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 going into too much detail, the person who recorded their deed first will be the one who takes ownership, provided he or she did not know (or had no reason to know) of the existence of the other deed.

What Can A Asheville, North Carolina Attorney Do?

The legal issues surrounding title and boundary disputes can get pretty complicated, and there are usually very high stakes involved (most people think their land is pretty important). For that reason, a good Asheville, North Carolina real estate attorney will prove invaluable if such a dispute arises.

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Asheville

Asheville is located in Buncombe County, North Carolina. It is the eleventh largest city in North Carolina, with a population of around 83,393 people.

Some fun sites to visit while in Asheville include the Biltmore Estate, Blue Ridge Parkway, the Botanical Gardens at Asheville, Grove Park Inn, the North Carolina Arboretum, the Smith-McDowell House, Sliding Rock, Bent Creek, McCormick Field, and the Thomas Wolfe Memorial State Historic Site.

Some famous residents (past and present) include Brad Daugherty, Harry Anderson, David Holt, Paul Schneider, Brett Swain, Robert Pressley, Rashad McCants, and Andie MacDowell.

Top employers include the health care system, the school district, Volvo Construction Equipment, Wal-Mart, Ingles, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Arvato Digital Services. Although no law firms are listed, Asheville is home to many practicing attorneys who aid residents with all their legal matters.

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