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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 Oak Harbor, 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 Oak Harbor, Washington

Courts have many tools at their disposal to resolve boundary disputes. One way is to just re-draw the property lines to reflect how the neighbors had been using the land before the discrepancy was discovered. This doesn't truly change the position of either neighbor, and is sometimes the fairest result. This is most commonly done because the neighbors were both aware of the legal property lines, and that they differed from how they were using the land, and went on using the land anyway.

Nonetheless, a court might also enforce the legal property boundaries, particularly if failing to do so would place a significant burden on the owner of the encroached-upon land. If the owner of the encroaching land knew of the encroachment, and concealed it from his neighbor, this fact would further weigh heavily in favor of enforcing the legal property lines.

When a title dispute comes up in Oak Harbor, Washington, the court has to apply some pretty complex legal and equitable principles. These rules are sometimes very obscure, mainly because they can trace their origins back hundreds of years, to the common-law courts of England. However, a close examination of them reveals their basic goal: deciding ownership disputes based on longstanding conceptions of basic fairness.

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 Oak Harbor, Washington 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 Oak Harbor, Washington real estate lawyer to help in situations like this is always a good idea.

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Life in Oak Harbor

Oak Harbor, Washington is a city in Island County, Washington. It is physically located on Whidbey Island, which is about 30 miles north of Seattle, and just off Puget Sound. Oak Harbor currently has a population of approximately 20,000 people.

Oak Harbor was incorporated in 1915. The history of Oak Harbor dates back to the mid 1800s, when 3 settlers staked claims in the area, which roughly coincide with the boundaries of the current city. Early settlers were largely from Norway and Sweden, giving the city a distinctive Scandinavian feel.

Oak Harbor is home to a major military installation - the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. This base is home to thousands of personnel, and is a major source of jobs and outside money for Oak Harbor, and the other communities in Whidbey Island.

The community is also home to one of the Pacific Northwest's major scenic landmarks: the Deception Pass Bridge, which connects Whidbey Island with Fidalgo Island.

Thanks to its proximity to Seattle, and its diverse population, there are many lawyers in and around Oak Harbor, Washington who are ready to handle virtually any legal issue that you might have. If you need legal advice, you should contact an Oak Harbor, Washington attorney as soon as possible.

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Oak Harbor Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Oak Harbor Title Attorneys

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Washington

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Oak Harbor, Washington