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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in New York

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.

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. However, in the long term, this can cause problems, particularly if one neighbor decides they want to enforce the legal property lines down the road.

Therefore, neighbors more often 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.

While the boundary disputes discussed above occur fairly regularly, they aren't the only type of land dispute that can happen in Rochester, New York. There are also title disputes. These disagreements arise when it isn't clear who owns an entire parcel of land. There are many reasons why such confusion might arise, but a common one is failure to properly record a deed, or subsequent loss of a deed by the recording office. While usually innocent in origin, these disputes can also be the product of fraud. Sometimes, a landowner will sell his land to more than one person, with each buyer assuming that they are the only buyer. Having "sold" his land multiple times, the fraudster presumably flees the jurisdiction with his ill-gotten gains. This leaves the buyers to figure out who actually owns the land that each of them thought they had just bought. Obviously, whoever loses this dispute will usually have to absorb the loss of the land's purchase price, if the fraudulent seller cannot be found.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Rochester, 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 generally considered 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 a very large burden on one neighbor, and re-drawing them to reflect their actual use would put a comparatively small burden on the other neighbor

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.

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 complex laws in Rochester, New York.

Generally, the person who records the deed first will be the one who takes ownership. Of course, this will only be if they had no reason to know about the other deeds).

What Can A Rochester, New York Attorney Do?

The legal problems that can come up in boundary and title disputes can get very complex. Given this fact, and the high stakes of such disputes, most people shouldn't approach these problems without good legal representation. It should therefore go without saying that the counsel of a reputable Rochester, New York real estate attorney is essential in most of these disputes.

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Life in Rochester

Rochester is the second largest regional economy in the State of New York and the seat of Monroe County. They city's had a number of different names bestowed upon it such as "the World's Image Centre," "the Flour City," "and more recently, "the Flower City."

Annual Festivals like the Rochester International Jazz Festival, Rochester-High Falls International Film Festival, ImageOut, Lesbian Gay Film Video Festival, and the Lilac Festival are all attractions bring an average of 500,000 visitors to the city. Many of them take place at the Dryden and Little Theatres. The St. Patrick's Day, Rose Festival, Irish, Greek, Gay Pride, Puerto Rican, and Cold Rush Winter Celebration parades are held in the downtown district of Rochester.

Additional tourist attractions include the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film that is the World's oldest photography museum and the Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial which is the main venue for hockey and lacrosse events. The Blue Cross Arena is home to the Rochester Americans hockey team, Rochester Razorsharks basketball team, and the Knighthawks lacrosse team. The Blue Cross Arena was elected the location for the NCAA Division I Men's ice hockey league and was host to the 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey East Regional.

Residents of Rochester enjoy access to a number of bar certified local lawyers. Rochester lawyers regularly practice in local courts and many have specific areas of expertise. If you've been injured, have an immigration issue, or even just want to secure your will, Rochester lawyers can advise you on different options of which you may not be aware.

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Rochester Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Rochester Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in New York

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Rochester, New York