Sioux Falls Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Sioux Falls Title Attorneys

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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in South Dakota

There are times when neighbors will find themselves in a situation where how they've been using their land doesn't match up with the property boundaries that are on record. This can be a source of considerable conflict, as one might expect.

Ideally, the neighbors could just dismiss the situation, and go on as they had before, effectively agreeing to change the property lines to reflect their past use. This doesn't always happen, however. Furthermore, such a course of action is not free of issues, and could eventually result in ownership of the land legally changing to reflect the past use, even if one of the neighbors opposes this.

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.

In addition to the boundary disputes mentioned above, land owners and buyers in Sioux Falls, South Dakota should also be aware of the possibility of a title dispute. Rather than being a disagreement over the exact boundaries between two pieces of land, a title dispute is a dispute over who actually owns an entire plot of land. Uncertainty over ownership of land can come up more often than you might think, and is most often caused by a buyer's failure to correctly record a deed, or the accidental loss or destruction of a deed. Sometimes, however, these disputes can be more dishonest in origin: on occasion, unscrupulous sellers of land will attempt to sell the same parcel to more than one person. Obviously, once you've sold land to one person, you can't sell the same land to anyone else, as you no longer own it. These tricksters know this, but are attempting to gain a large amount of money through the multiple sales. Once this is done, they normally attempt to flee the state or country before the buyers discovery they've been duped. This leaves it up to the buyers to figure out amongst themselves who owns the land.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

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.

On the other hand, a court could determine 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 majority of them boil down to common-sense principles of fairness. For instance, 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 likely won't enforce them.

In Sioux Falls, South Dakota 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 Sioux Falls, South Dakota 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 Sioux Falls, South Dakota real estate attorney will prove invaluable if such a dispute arises.

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Sioux Falls

With a population of about 153,000, Sioux Falls is the largest city in South Dakota. Over the recent decades, Sioux Falls, South Dakota has become one of the most important centers for retail trade, health care, and financial services in the area. Sioux Falls was chartered in 1856 and is home to many large corporations such as Citigroup and Wells Fargo.

In addition to being a vital economic hub for the region, Sioux Falls South Dakota boasts a number of attractions and local events. Every year the city hosts arts culture events like the "Festival of Bands", "Jazz Fest", and an unique "Sculpture Walk" cataloguing the history and progress of the city.

Sioux Falls is also home to Empire Mall, the largest one-story shopping mall in the U.S. With its unique mix of economic growth and its thriving arts culture scene, many residents and visitors appreciate the mix of opportunities that Sioux Falls offers.

Lawyers in Sioux Falls, South Dakota practice law in wide range of legal fields to serve community needs. Many Sioux Falls lawyers contribute to civic and social activities through organizations like the State Bar of South Dakota.

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