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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in North Carolina

Occasionally, 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 commonly, 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 commonly 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 likely oppose any attempt to enforce the property lines.

People in Burlington, North Carolina should also be aware of the possibility of title (ownership) disputes. Unlike the boundary disputes considered above, the outcome of a title dispute can decide 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). Normally, 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 Burlington, North Carolina

One frequent 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 normally happens when both parties were, for many years, aware of the actual property boundaries, and did nothing about it. Additionally, 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 may do the opposite, and decide to enforce the property lines as they're drawn. This will generally 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 actions 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 likely change the property lines to reflect this prior use, to prevent that neighbor from being rewarded for "sitting on his rights."

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 Burlington, North Carolina.

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 disagreement.

What Can A Burlington, North Carolina Attorney Do?

As you might have gathered, it's not uncommon for the legal issues controlling boundary and title disputes to get very complicated. Additionally, any dispute that can affect one's use or ownership of land has very high stakes (land isn't normally cheap, after all). Therefore, it shouldn't come as a surprise that hiring a competent Burlington, North Carolina real estate lawyer to help in situations like this is always a good idea.

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Life in Burlington

Burlington, North Carolina is a city in Alamance County. It has a population of more than 50,000 people.

Burlington, North Carolina is known for being the site of the War of The Regulation, which was a revolt against the colonial British government, and predates the American Revolutionary War. Although it was unsuccessful, it may have been a catalyst that helped kick off the wider revolution.

Modernly, Burlington, North Carolina is a thriving, business-friendly community. It hosts the headquarters of LabCorp, one of the largest clinical lab companies in the world, and one of the early pioneers of genetic testing. Burlington is served by a fairly extensive rail network, connecting it to New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, among several other major cities on the East Coast.

The city's daily newspaper is also one of the area's major media outlets.

According to census data, Burlington is an ethnically-diverse community, with significant Hispanic and Asian-American communities.

Given the wide variety of businesses, and relatively large number of residents, in Burlington, North Carolina, it's not surprising that Burlington, North Carolina lawyers typically find their services in demand. Because of the variety of cases they're likely to face, they must be prepared to handle many different types of legal issues, so chances are that there's a Burlington, North Carolina lawyer who can handle your case.

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Burlington Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Burlington Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in North Carolina

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