Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Oklahoma
fence constructed on neighbors land by previous owner
I purchased a home with 2.5 acres and the previous owner had a chain link fence put up and it encroaches onto my neighbors land by about 13 feet. There is also a 15x20 shop that encroaches it by 2 feet. My question is this, is there any statute of limitations that applies here? And if the fence has to come down, whose responsibility is it, mine? The previous owner who built the shop and the fence, or the land owner himself. Your help is greatly appreciated.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: fence constructed on neighbors land by previous owner
When you bought the property you had the opportunity to survey the land to determine if there were any encroachments. Since you apparently failed to do this, you accepted the property with these problems(assuming the seller wasn't guilty of somehow deceiving you about these conditions). Therefor, you probably can not pursue a claim against the seller.
Your encroachments on your neighbor's property are continuing each day and so any claim your neighbor may have will not be barred by the statute of limitations. It is possible that you might some day acquire title to your neighbor's property(the portions upon which you are encroaching) by adverse possession- if your use of the property meets all the requirements. Of course such a strategy will not make your neighbor very happy.
Another option is to reach some type of settlement with your neighbor, such as buying or leasing the property you are using. Or you might be able to get his permission to leave the fence and building where they are until they need replacing and then putting the replacements on your property. I'm sure there are other options if you can get some cooperation from your neighbor.