Grandfathered squatter?

[Mgderf]

A question for the Ingo legal eagles.
My uncle is trying to buy a parcel of land.
The neighbor's house and garage are over the property line by several feet each, intruding into the parcel my uncle wants to buy.
The neighbor's well is fully 100 feet into the property that my uncle wants to purchase.

The neighbor says he has lived there for more than 20 years, and is grandfathered into the property.
He swears that even if my uncle buys the property, there is nothing that can be done to force the neighbor off the land he does not own.

My uncle offered to dig him a new well on his property, at no cost to him, and the neighbor said no!
He said no one can force him to give up his well, even though it sits on land he does not own.

The realtor involved told my uncle that he very well may be right, and there may be nothing anyone can do about it.
This just doesn't sound right, but I'm not an attorney.

What say Ingo lawyers?
Can someone still claim squatters rights these days?
If so, why?

 

[Hkindiana]

Look up "Adverse posession"

 

[churchmouse]

So if you were running a tractor over your ground and whacked the guys well head would you be responsible to get it fixed......

 

[femurphy77]

"Your" land isn't as "Your" as we like to think it is! I read an article the other day about an elderly lady that owned a vacant houses. Some scumbag falsified a deed transfer, had it recognized by whomever does that sort of thing and the old woman is now without her house. Local court and appeals court side with the scumbag!

 

[Mgderf]

Look up "Adverse posession"

O.K. I looked up "Adverse Possession".
I found a link to the state-by-state rules governing adverse possession.
If I read it correctly, it states that for someone to be able to claim rights to property not owned by them, they must have,
"paid taxes on the property in this state during the time period."

To me, this reads, if he hasn't been the one paying property taxes on this parcel, then he has no legal standing.

Am I reading this correctly?

This was Indiana code Ann. (what is Ann.?) 32-23-11-34-11-2-11

 

[Mgderf]

"Your" land isn't as "Your" as we like to think it is! I read an article the other day about an elderly lady that owned a vacant houses. Some scumbag falsified a deed transfer, had it recognized by whomever does that sort of thing and the old woman is now without her house. Local court and appeals court side with the scumbag!

Was this in California?
I could believe it from that hell hole.

 

[femurphy77]

Was this in California?
I could believe it from that hell hole.

Almost as bad. . . .New York, City IIRC! But I've read similar stories specifically from the left coast.

 

[woodsie57]

Wondered about this myself- neighbors barn is bit over the line at one corner; his fence is over the line a bit, and i let him fence off an acre or so for a few years so his horses could keep it "mowed". I figure "squatters rights" ended in cowboy days, if anybody gets crappy, a good survey and some lawyering $$ could fix it.

 

[Hkindiana]

Indiana’s Statutory Period for Adverse Possession

Every state has a slightly different statutory period for which a trespasser must occupy the land in order to claim title. Under Ind. Code Ann. § 32-23-1-1, the trespasser can bring a claim of adverse possession after ten years.
Example: Chandler and Monica are homeowners who live next to one another in Bloomington. Their back yards are one vast, connected expanse of grass, with no dividing fence or boundary between them. Chandler builds a shed that is actually on Monica’s side of the yard, covering about ten square feet of earth. Monica doesn’t say a word about it. Chander uses the shed as if it were on his own land. He does this for 11 years. Under the rubric described above, Chandler can probably establish that he “owns” the land on which he was encroaching. Monica could have stopped Chandler by asking, over those 11 years, that he remove his shed, or that he sign a rental agreement indicating the nature of his use and thereby acknowledging Monica's ownership. But Indiana courts won’t let Monica suddenly eject Chandler after failing to exercise her rights for more than a decade.

This example sounds a LOT like your well situation.

 

[Mgderf]

According to the neighbor, the well was in place (on the wrong property) when he bought his parcel some 20+ odd years ago.
He says this makes him impervious to legal action regarding the property in question.

Just doesn't sound right to me.

 

[Hkindiana]

In college I knew a girl that had inherited land from her grandmother, and planned to build her dream home there one day. Unbeknownst th her, a neighbor to the land put up a singke strand of barded wire and put a horse in a section of the property. When she discovered this years later, she LOST that section of property to the LAWYER (he knew what he was doing) that had fenced in her property.

 

[nra4ever]

Run away from that deal. The old guy has been there continuously for over 20 years. You will lose. Since it is adjacent land you will probably also lose on the tax issue. Unless it is a lot of land. If it is let the seller know the problems and take money off the sale and settle the dispute. That's how it looks from reading. I would contact a real estate lawyer.

 

[Ryninger]

He can say whatever he wants, doesn’t make it right. In Indiana, if the property taxes have always been up to date and not paid by the neighbor in question, the property lines in the deed should hold up. The argument can be made the neighbor should have had a survey done when he bought his place to verify boundaries.

 

[voidsherpa]

Such interesting people that one should feel entitled to something that is not theirs.

 

[Mgderf]

Run away from that deal. The old guy has been there continuously for over 20 years. You will lose. Since it is adjacent land you will probably also lose on the tax issue. Unless it is a lot of land. If it is let the seller know the problems and take money off the sale and settle the dispute.

Much as I hate to say it, I think you may be right.
The neighbor seems like nothing but a headache and full of ill will toward ANY prospective new neighbor.

 

[Leadeye]

Part of me is with CM on this, nothing says you can't store barrels of pig manure right next to the well if he wants to make a stink over this. Best bet is to walk away from the deal.

 

[Hkindiana]

He can say whatever he wants, doesn’t make it right. In Indiana, if the property taxes have always been up to date and not paid by the neighbor in question, the property lines in the deed should hold up. The argument can be made the neighbor should have had a survey done when he bought his place to verify boundaries.

You do not have to pay property taxes on a well

 

[churchmouse]

You do not have to pay property taxes on a well

But the well head is actually "On" the land. Not being a stinker just stating a fact.

 

[churchmouse]

OP is this the Parcel you mentioned in another thread.....how big is it.
It is not hard to be full of ill will your self or win someone over.
We had an issue with fencing that was built on our property well before we bought it. That fence is still there.

 

[Mgderf]

OP is this the Parcel you mentioned in another thread.....how big is it.
It is not hard to be full of ill will your self or win someone over.
We had an issue with fencing that was built on our property well before we bought it. That fence is still there.

Nope, different parcel, different county.
The first property we looked at the realtor never got back after an offer was tendered.
Even attempted to contact them after some time to consider the offer.
Realtor wouldn't answer the phone for more than a week after offer was tendered so uncle rescinded the offer on that property.

The property we're talking about now is roughly 55 acres.