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Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Washington

Sometimes, neighbors will discover that the way they've been using their land doesn't conform with the property lines that the local government has on record. When they find out, the case has to be resolved somehow. In such cases, there is usually a winner and a loser, so conflict is likely to arise.

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.

Nonetheless, it's more common for the neighbor whose land is being encroached upon by the other neighbor to seek enforcement of the legal property lines. The other neighbor will almost certainly want to use the property as he had been, since enforcing the legal property lines would cause him to lose some of "his" land.

In addition to the boundary disputes mentioned above, land owners and buyers in Mercer Island, Washington 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 Mercer Island, Washington

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, for many possible reasons, might decide to give effect to the legally-recorded property lines, which would generally change the neighbors' situation, with respect to how they use their land. For instance, if the neighbor who is benefiting from the prevailing situation (he is using land beyond the actual boundary of his property, thereby encroaching onto the land of another) knew about the discrepancy and took steps to actively hide this fact from the other neighbor, the court is very unlikely to do anything that rewards this behavior, even in the slightest. Therefore, a court is likely to decide against the dishonest neighbor. Conversely, if the neighbor who would benefit from enforcing the property lines did nothing to make this happen for many years, a court will probably tell them that they had their chance, and essentially consented to the current arrangement when they took no action to correct it.

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 Mercer Island, Washington.

Typically, 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 Mercer Island, Washington 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 Mercer Island, Washington real estate attorney, who will assist you navigate these murky legal waters.

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Life in Mercer Island

Mercer Island, Washington is a city situated in King County, on an island in Lake Washington. Its population, according to a 2008 Census estimate, is about 24,000 people.

Mercer Island is part of the Seattle Metro area, and is considered a suburb of that city. The Mercers, a wealthy Seattle Family, settled Mercer Island in the late 1800s, and gave the area its current name.

During that time, an industrialist built a large, luxurious resort on the waterfront, and it was accessible via steamboat from the nearby towns on the mainland. The resort was burnt by a mysterious fire in 1908, however.

Mercer Island is quite affluent, and the IRS has ranked it among the 50 wealthiest Zip Codes in the U.S. The median household income is about ,000, and only 0.2% of the population lives below the poverty line.

There are quite a few parks in Mercer Island, Washington. Luther Burbank Park is one of the largest, and covers about 77 acres, and a significant portion of waterfront. It features a public dock for boats, tennis courts, picnic areas, and nature trails.

Given their sophisticated clientele, and proximity to the largest city in the state, Mercer Island, Washington lawyers are experienced in a wide variety of legal areas. If you have any legal issue, there's a good chance that a Mercer Island, Washington lawyer can solve it, or point you to someone who can.

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Mercer Island Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Mercer Island Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Washington

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Mercer Island, Washington