Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Virginia
Property line � shared driveway
I just purchased an older home a month ago. According to the survey done prior to my purchase of the house, the property line along one side of the property goes right down the middle of the driveway (two rows of broken concrete about the width of a car tire with dirt/grass between), evidently shared by my property and the adjacent property. The adjacent property is a somewhat run-down rental property and there is a significant amount of automobile traffic that goes in and out of the driveway. I sometimes park my car in the driveway when it is vacant. As opposed to using the driveway for my own automobile purposes, I would like to add fill dirt to my side of the driveway and landscape to repair the damage done to my property due wear by the frequent car traffic. This would also effectively eliminate the use of the driveway. Are there any legal ramifications that I need to consider? There were no easements found when doing the title search. Would this be a situation where �adverse possession� would apply? The adjacent property is a rental and has been in the possession of the current owner for just under a year.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Property line � shared driveway
You would have no legal authority whatsoever to
breach the clearly defined boundary line by carrying out your proposed plan of improvements, and, by doing so, without the permission of the owner of the other property, you could be making yourself liable to suit.
Also, adverse possession would not apply to this situation as you yourself have clearly not been in such possession or exerted such open, continuous and notorious claim of possession of the property for the required statutory time which is around 20 years or so.
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