Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: easements

Yes, but there are a number of issues if you have lost the property due your inactivity and there activity. You will need to approach the situation carefully, fully armed with facts and the law.

Joel Selik

800-894-2889

www.4thelaw.com

Re: easements

They may have an easement by prescriptive easement, based on their use of the property for all these years. This type of easement does not need to be recorded to be valid.

The cost of proving one way or the other could be prohibitive. I would suggest reasoning with each other.

Re: easements

There is a strong preference in California for accepting the boundaries specified in recorded instruments and located by survey, as opposed to boundaries set by building fences, unrecorded agreements, tradition, etc. As you seem to know, there is also a rule that adverse possession cannot occur against someone who is paying the property taxes.

So, you're almost home free. A few other factors need to be considered before predicting you'll win a suit to clear title or remove cloud.

First, your neighbor is doubtless also paying taxes. It might be a good idea to compare the assessor's records with the recorder's. There are instances in Sonoma County where property owners have been paying taxes for years on more land, or less land (assessor records) than they actually owned per the recorder's records. There is a remote possibility your neighbor has been assessed taxes based on the fence, in which case your argument that you've paid the taxes on the disputed strip is in peril.

Next, it would be a good idea to research the history of the fence/boundary prior to your ownership, to see whether there is any possibility of an 'agreed boundary' at the fence.

Finally, you might check your title insurance to see whether the problem is covered by your insurance.

Since you appear to be right up the road from me, I could easily give you a free consultation in my office.