My wife and I have lived in a house in MA for the last 12 years. Her father built the house in the 50’s and either he or she has lived in the house ever since.
6 months ago the house next door changed hands. About the 6th time in the 12 years we have been here.
The new owner recently had a survey done that shows the border between his house and mine is about 2 to 4 feet closer to us then previously thought.
He then proceeded to plant about 25 trees along the new border cutting an underground hose that we had put in for sprinklers, etc.
I spent money that I didn’t want to spend to have a survey done on our behalf. My survey shows the border where we had thought it was (and where everyone else thought over the last 50 years).
The surveyor for us has done all of the property around here and in conversations with the surveyor for our neighbor, felt that our neighbor’s surveyor is now not sure of their results. This is potentially all in my favor.
Now what?
Does the following make sense-
If the neighbor’s surveyor ends up agreeing with my surveyor, then I will go to the neighbor and ask how he will rectify the cut hose, get rid of the trees, put the lawn back to the status quo. I will also ask for the money for the survey that I spent. If he balks, or nickel and dimes me, I will go to small claims court with an estimate on fixing the hose, replacing the lawn and re-imbursement for my survey.
But what if his surveyor sticks with his story? Does this mean that I have to spend more money for lawyers, courts, etc?
Can the border remain in “dispute” without me having to spend more money? He wants to put on an addition. With the border in dispute, does it become more difficult for him?
talk to a lawyer pronto. you’ll save money in the long run. your local bar association should be able to give you a referral to a lawyer who specializes in this type of dipute.
Me agreeing with a bagpipe-playing Canuck lawyer… how sad, but: DITTO NOW.
happyheathen recognizing that lawyers may occasionally have social utility?
I hear the hoofbeats of the four horsemen…
What’s all this nonsense about talking to a lawyer? That’s not how you handle a border dispute.
What you need to do is station troops in the disputed region before he does. Then follow up with a massive propaganda campaign aimed at your neighbors to convince them that you’re in the right, focus on how your new neighbor rapidly ‘discovered’ that his border includes your historic homeland and how he rapidly built military installations (trees provide cover don’t they?) in the disputed region without resorting to any diplomatic means. Be prepared to sign some defensive alliances to help your defense of the region. Offer your neighbor some minor concession, for example offer him free passage through the disputed region in exchange for acknowledging your rightful soverignity over the area.
He’ll almost inevitably refuse, of course - we all realize that the ‘border adjustment’ is just an excuse for him to be in a better position when he attempts to seize your whole backyard. If he doesn’t back down and return the disputed region to you, entice him into attacking you - begin to remove the trees, or repair and begin operating your sprinkler pipeline again (and demand reparations for your efforts in doing so). While you will probably eventually force him to back down, be prepared for a neighborhood-wide war - while his claims may be illegitimate, some of your neighbors will have old scores to settle and will sign on with him. As long as you make him appear as the aggressor and marshall your forces carefully, though, you should be able to drive him off of the border area and possibly make most of his yard into a demilitarized zone - don’t get greedy and try to annex his whole house, though, as that will make your neighbors nervous about who’s next.
Ignore Riboflavin. You need to do what Norway has done to Russia. After WWII we sudenly had a border with Russia and an unsettled teritorial waters issue. So you need to ally yourself with a bigger and rich neighbour and say you’re willing to talk about the border. Do this untill the regime changes and then get your property back when the new guys get tired.
Ignore them both.
Call a lawyer. Remember, the fella with the best lawyer wins.