Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Indiana

I bought a lake property 14 months ago. Judging by a recent flood survey, my dock and storage shed may be 5 to 6 feet over the property line on neighbors property. The dock and shed have been there for 30 or more years. Since property lines in our lake community are difficult to establish, most property owners are very lenient with the location of their neigbors buildings. My neighbor who bought about 3 years has asked me to move my invisible dog fence over thinking it is on his property and has commented to a neighbor that it and my half of my shed are on his property. I realize that he should provide a stake survey (Because of the difficulty in locating corner markers in this community, stake surveys can be more than $2000) to prove his claim but do I have any recourse if my shed is over the line?


Asked on 3/12/17, 7:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kenneth Wilk Rubino Ruman Crosmer & Polen

There is a possibility that you could claim the land under adverse possession but you'd have to meet all of the requirements---not easy to do.

Property lines are not easy to establish. All it takes is a survey. But people try to be economical and save a few pennies when they buy property and skip the survey. Then, it ends up costing them many times the savings to fix the problem. You should try approaching your neighbor nicely and see if something could be worked out if you pay him. It would have to be formalized with a survey and an attorney.

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Answered on 3/13/17, 6:37 pm


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