Mequon Boundary Dispute Lawyers and Mequon Title Attorneys

Find the right Title & Boundary Dispute attorney in Mequon, WI

Title & Boundary Dispute Law in Wisconsin

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 frequently, and might have consequences down the road, including title eventually changing to reflect the perceived property lines, without the choice of either neighbor.

It's more frequently the case that one neighbor wants to maintain the current use of the land, property lines notwithstanding, while the other neighbor wants to enforce the property lines that are on record. This is because moving a property line necessarily expands the land of one neighbor, while shrinking the land of another. Obviously, the neighbor whose land would be shrunk will likely oppose any attempt to enforce the property lines.

People in Mequon, Wisconsin should also be aware of the possibility of title (ownership) disputes. Unlike the boundary disputes considered above, the outcome of a title dispute can decide who owns an entire parcel of real property. Confusion over who actually owns a piece of property is more common that some people might imagine. Many local property records are still kept on paper, are not very well-organized, and sometimes date back a hundred years or more. A lost or misfiled deed is the most common way for a title dispute to arise. However, sometimes fraud on the part of a seller can lead to title disputes. Unscrupulous individuals will sometimes try to sell the same piece of land to more than one person. And some people even try to sell property they don't own, occasionally succeeding (and this isn't just limited to bridges in London). Typically, once the buyers discover they've been duped, the "seller" is nowhere to be found, leaving them to figure out who owns the land they all thought they had purchased.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Mequon, Wisconsin

One possible result of a boundary dispute is a court effectively re-drawing the boundaries to fit what the neighbors had perceived. This is most frequently done if the neighbors were aware for a long time of the "real" property lines, and didn't do anything about it. It also helps if the neighbor who is encroaching makes major improvements to the land, and enforcing the new property lines would place a major burden on him.

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 Mequon, Wisconsin courts have many options when it comes to resolving title disputes. However, these disputes are usually controlled by some fairly complicated (and old) legal principles. While they're usually built around policies that most people would find to be quite fair and reasonable, their application can be nearly impenetrable, even for some lawyers.

Usually, 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 Mequon, Wisconsin 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 Mequon, Wisconsin real estate attorney, who will assist you navigate these murky legal waters.

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Mequon

Mequon, Wisconsin is a city located in Ozaukee County. Its population is about 23,000 people. It was recently ranked very highly among the top 20 small cities in the U.S. to live in.

The area now known as Mequon was inhabited by various Native American tribes thousands of years before the arrival of white settlers in the early to mid 1800s. Around that time, about 20 German families established a sort of sub-community called "Freistadt" which means "Free City" in German. They came to the United States to escape religious persecution in their native land. The families were Lutheran, and Germany at the time was predominantly Catholic. They established the first Lutheran Church in Wisconsin. Freidstadt is now a neighborhood within the city limits of Mequon, Wisconsin.

Nowadays, Mequon, Wisconsin is a quiet, affluent suburb of Milwaukee. The median household income in Mequon is over ,000, and less than 2% of the population lives below the poverty line.

There are plenty of lawyers in and around Mequon, Wisconsin to serve the residents and businesses of the area. Mequon's affluence and proximity to a large city means that a large percentage of Mequon, Wisconsin lawyers are used to handling complex and sophisticated cases, making it all the more likely that a Meqon, Wisconsin lawyer will be able to take whatever type of case you are likely to have.

Clients Rate LegalMatch Attorneys
(click to read reviews)

Nicholas M.
Nicholas M.

Real Estate, Housing & Property Law

Golden, CO

Carl M.
Carl M.

Real Estate, Housing & Property Law

Seattle, WA

David A.
David A.

Real Estate, Housing & Property Law

Walnut Creek, CA