Hello, does anyone know when the metal fence post replaced cedar post as a standard? Did metal post exist longer than 20 years ago? The reason I am asking is my neighbor put up a quarter mile fence post years ago. It is 30 feet into my property 1/4 acre cross. If he claims it was there more than 20 years and he'll probably fight me in courts over it. According to Alabama adverse possession laws, if he can prove that he put the fence line up more than 20 years ago without any contestant from the past owners, the boundary lines can be reset to the new fence line. In other words, even though I have paid taxes on it from the time I bought the property, he will be considered the owner of the new established fence line even though my survey and deed says otherwise. If I can prove that metal post (green 3/4 of the post and gray on top 1/4 of post) did not exist 20 plus years ago, I can reclaim my land. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Determining the age of fence post
- Thread starter boomer
- Start date
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cowboy43
Well-known member
Steel fence posts were pattened in Australia 1926, The first we used were in the early sixtes.
A
Anonymous
Nice neighbor to claim property that isn't his.
Hope you get the info you need somehow to reclaim your property
Hope you get the info you need somehow to reclaim your property
boomer
Are you sure it is 20 years in AL? It's only 7 years in TN.
IMO adverse possession laws are needed and I have seen the courts uphold them many times.
To win you will need to find some old recorded document giving notice to cease and desist, or better yet a court order to cease and desist.
Without that I don't think you have much of a chance.
IMO the best thing you can do is talk to your neighbor and offer to build a new fence in the proper location.
All he can say is NO!
SL
Are you sure it is 20 years in AL? It's only 7 years in TN.
IMO adverse possession laws are needed and I have seen the courts uphold them many times.
To win you will need to find some old recorded document giving notice to cease and desist, or better yet a court order to cease and desist.
Without that I don't think you have much of a chance.
IMO the best thing you can do is talk to your neighbor and offer to build a new fence in the proper location.
All he can say is NO!
SL
If you get a lawyer you can fight him .. i bought some property that was fenced and the taxes were paid for 40 years by the guy I bought it from ... The title company paid the old owner 20k for the property .. even after he hadn't paid taxes in 40 years and after I had paid for the land. Took me four years to get it strait .
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
JSCATTLE":5pfuzdih said:
Sometime you win sometimes you loose know a fellow lost several acres to adverse possesion.
JSCattle,
And you are where? Texas I believe and boomer is in Alabama I believe.
Do you see a problem there? We are not talking about a federal law, we are talking about a state law and state judicial law.
SL
And you are where? Texas I believe and boomer is in Alabama I believe.
Do you see a problem there? We are not talking about a federal law, we are talking about a state law and state judicial law.
SL
Around here there aren;t many surveyed property lines. Most of this area was divided up by the old "paced off distance measure" One farm the fence line is off by 20 feet to the south in the back and 5 feet to the norht on the front. Our old farm was even further off. They had to go several miles to find a monument to meausre from when we had it surveyed to buy the 60 acres next to us.
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
JSCATTLE":3rha1ws8 said:
In Texas a lot has to do with if he has filed for title under adverse possesion after it has been under his possesion for seven years and he can show proof. You can't run down and claim it after it changes hands by fileing the clock start's over, according to my lawyer neighbor.
Oh I see .. I'm not sure what all went on the people I bought it from sold it because the " owner " died . Stewart title ended up paying because I had a title policy .. don't ever buy anything with out one ..
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
JSCATTLE":1f6zksrn said:
Your dead on about a title policy.
Thanks everyone for the comments. Well I'm not exactly young (41) but never owned a farm until four years ago and only now getting into the cattle business (actually hobby). I stopped at tractor supply store today and felt kind of dumb when I asked the question about the age of the metal T post. I guess they were very common even 40 years ago.
As for the adverse law in AL, it is broken down into two separate laws. First is a 10 year, where a hostile owner (meaning takes posession outright) and pays taxes on the property for 10 years. This happens a lot with foreclosure property. The second applies to me, where the hostile owner puts a fence on your property and you do not contest it for 20 years. The courts believe that 20 years is a lot of time to contest it. In my case, I bought the property for 4 years ago and did not realize his fence was 30 feet on my property for 1/4 mile. I only realized it when I notice the deed and the survey maps showed his fence was on my property. This was done about 10 years ago. As of now, the county deed books records that the property is still mine and therefor I am stuck paying taxes on it, even though he is using it for his cattle. I also paid for the disputed land when I bought 4 years ago. It hasn't gotten to the point where I need to take him to court to move his fence, but I predict it will amount to it as his son is a lawyer.
I am having a surveyer come out in two weeks to confirm the boundary tacon stakes. Also, I'll ask him for his opinion on the age of the fence. Furthermore, I talked to the realtor who sold me the property and he said in AL, the hostile owner has to prove he made improvements (such as a fence) on the property for 20 years to contest an adverse posession takeover. Hopefully he has no record to prove he put up this fence 20+ years.
Any advice, suggestion, or guidance would greatly help. Thank you!
As for the adverse law in AL, it is broken down into two separate laws. First is a 10 year, where a hostile owner (meaning takes posession outright) and pays taxes on the property for 10 years. This happens a lot with foreclosure property. The second applies to me, where the hostile owner puts a fence on your property and you do not contest it for 20 years. The courts believe that 20 years is a lot of time to contest it. In my case, I bought the property for 4 years ago and did not realize his fence was 30 feet on my property for 1/4 mile. I only realized it when I notice the deed and the survey maps showed his fence was on my property. This was done about 10 years ago. As of now, the county deed books records that the property is still mine and therefor I am stuck paying taxes on it, even though he is using it for his cattle. I also paid for the disputed land when I bought 4 years ago. It hasn't gotten to the point where I need to take him to court to move his fence, but I predict it will amount to it as his son is a lawyer.
I am having a surveyer come out in two weeks to confirm the boundary tacon stakes. Also, I'll ask him for his opinion on the age of the fence. Furthermore, I talked to the realtor who sold me the property and he said in AL, the hostile owner has to prove he made improvements (such as a fence) on the property for 20 years to contest an adverse posession takeover. Hopefully he has no record to prove he put up this fence 20+ years.
Any advice, suggestion, or guidance would greatly help. Thank you!
Goodlife
Well-known member
Regarding metal post age, sorry Boomer, but like other posts, my dad and I put up metal posts for fencing our place in 1971. I do hope your neighbor does the right thing. Its a shame to sell his integrity. Sounds like a situation where legal right may not equal ethical right.
moloss
Well-known member
I'm not saying your wrong on the 20yr thing but I'm in Alabama and when I bought my small farm I was told 7 years......so the first thing I did was get it surveyed and then put up fence along the edges of my property (now going on 4yrs ago)
Yes, I just looked at my closing papers and I paid $625.00 for title insurance. Sorry for my ignorance, but what does this buy me? As for putting up fences on my property, I was living in another state at the time and did not have the time off to erect fences, but I am regretting not going over the survey maps more closely. Hope everyone here takes the time and throughly checks their boundaries. As for the second part of the AL adverse possession law, the common law section (20 years squatters rights) was put up for repealed in Sep 2005 and Oct 2011. So far, I cannot find anything to say statue was sign by our governor. This sure would change the outcome in my case.
