Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Obtaining Land thru Possession

If you send them a letter, via Certified Return Receipt ["CRR"]and also via regular mail, telling them that you will allow them to put up the fence [if that's what you want to do], you must also include a statement that you are permitting them to use the enclosed portion of your property, but that you are not giving them any interest in it or any other rights to it.

Such a letter would be evidence that they will not have any claims under "adverse possession" law. Adverse possession, by its nature, does not include any situation where a person claiming it has received permission to use part of a property.

Save your copy of the letter and the signed "return Receipt" as important evidence. If they refuse receipt or do not pick up the letter from the post office and the CRR letter is returned to you, but the regular mail letter is not returned, that would be evidence that they received the notice.

You do not have to give the neighbor permission for this, and if you are not inclined to, do not send a letter of permission, but follow the same procedure to notify them that you do NOT agree to their putting up a fence and mowing or otherwise using your part of the property that is outside your fence.

If you got a survey at the time when you bought the property, it should show the property line, and possibly markers at the corners. You may want to have the property surveyed now, and markers set if there are none, as evidence of your property line and the location of your fence within your property line.