Land Disputes & Litigation
Cannon Law, P.C. represents clients in all types of land disputes, including the following:
- Boundary Line Disputes
- Title Problems
- Encroachments
- Liens
- Restrictions on Use
- Joint Ownership Rights and Responsibilities
- Partition or Sale of Jointly Owned Property
- Easements and Interference with Easements
Adverse Possession
Adverse possession (also known as title by prescription or prescriptive title) is a legal doctrine that creates title in real estate when a person possesses it for a certain period of time and meets other legal requirements. Title by adverse possession can take precedence over a recorded deed or title by inheritance.
In addition to possessing the property for the required period of time, a person claiming title by adverse possession has to act in a manner that gives notice that ownership of the property is being claimed and the possession must be uninterrupted. Read more…
Easements
Easements are a right to use land or an interest in land that is less than full ownership of the land. The most common sources of easements are express grants or reservation in deeds, survey plats and adverse possession.
Deeds may describe an easement using a variety of language and the lack of a specific location, absence of easily identifiable boundary lines and vague language regarding the permitted use can cause significant problems. Property purchased with reference to survey plats can, under some circumstances, benefit from or be subject to easements appearing on the plat. In addition, activity on another party’s land for a long period of time can result in an easement being created by adverse possession. Read more…
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I bring to the attorney’s office for the first meeting about a land dispute?
Bring copies of your deed and deeds of your predecessors in title (if available) as well as copies of deeds of adjoining property owners. These documents can often be obtained from the Register of Deeds office (North Carolina) or the Clerk of Superior Court office (Georgia). You should also bring all closing papers from your purchase of the property, your title insurance policy, photos of the disputed area, any survey plats showing the property and any correspondence (including emails) with anyone regarding the dispute. Read more…
How to Read a Survey Plat
Property disputes almost always require review of a survey plat. A survey plat is a drawing prepared by a licensed land surveyor showing the actual location of a parcel of property.
A survey plat will usually contain information about the surveyor, a brief title of the document, data regarding its preparation, a legend identifying symbols on the plat, identification of adjoining property owners and a “metes and bounds” description of the property. “Metes and bounds” refers to the surveyor’s measurements of each portion of the property boundary. Read more…