Carmel Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Carmel Title Attorneys

Find the right Title & Boundary Dispute attorney in Carmel, NY

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in New York

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.

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.

In these cases, what often happens is that the owner of the property which is really larger than he initially believed (due to the property line not being where he thought it was) wants to make use of the further property, and eject his neighbor from it. The other neighbor, on the other hand, will want to keep using the land as before, to avoid having his property shrink.

Title disputes in Carmel, New York, 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 Carmel, New York

There are many ways to resolve boundary disputes. One way is to change the legal property lines to reflect the use that the neighbors had been making of the land before the discrepancy was discovered. This is typically regarded a sort of "neutral" result - nobody's situation changes. If both neighbors knew about the real boundaries for a very long time, and did nothing about it, a court may view this as them having acquiesced to the status quo, and decide that it would be unfair to force the neighbors to change their use of the land after such a long period of time. This might also be done if enforcing the property lines would place an extremely large burden on one neighbor, and re-drawing them to reflect their actual use would put a comparatively small burden on the other 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."

In Carmel, New York courts have many options when it comes to resolving title disputes. However, these disputes are usually controlled by some fairly intricate (and old) legal principles. While they're typically 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 individual who recorded their deed initially 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 Carmel, New York Attorney Do?

Real property disputes usually involve very old legal principles that can even confound lawyers who aren't experts in real estate law. For that reason, you should almost always hire an expert Carmel, New York real estate attorney, who will assist you navigate these murky legal waters.

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Life in Carmel

Carmel, New York is a city in Putnam County, New York. As of the 2000 Census, its population is approximately 36,000 people.

Carmel, New York is home to the historic Putnam County Courthouse. It was built in 1814, and is still in use today, making it one of the oldest working courthouses in the United States.

Carmel is also the site of one of the many heroic sagas of the Revolutionary War, when Sybil Ludington rode through the area all night, warning of an impending British attack. She is often referred to as a female version of Paul Revere.

Carmel, New York is located about an hour's drive from New York City, the largest city in the United States, and many residents commute there for work.

Carmel, given its close proximity to the largest city in the country, is an option for families who want a quiet place to settle down, but don't want to keep the excitement of city life out of reach.

The legal profession of Carmel, New York is served by its close proximity to New York University, and Columbia University. Both of these universities have law schools which are considered to be among the best in the U.S. This means that the market in the area is very competitve for Carmel, New York lawyers.

If you have a legal problem, it's very likely that there is a Carmel, New York lawyer who can handle it.

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