WOW....I'm sorry to hear you're having to deal with this. I'm new here but I've been doing my fair share of research throughout our home being built. Did you elect to get a Location Drawing or a Boundary Survey done when your home was being built? Boundary Surveys will give you the most exact diagram of your land (boundary corners and such) so that issues like this do not arise. Location drawings tend to show approximate distances. I'd definitely see what the builder has but I'd also check to see what your mortgage lender (assuming you have one) has on file for you as well. I'd also be curious as to if your neighbor is showing you a location drawing vs a Boundary Survey. Our lot is 4 acres but shaped a little funny so we've already contacted the Engineers that completed the site plan for the developer so that they'll come out to mark our property lines when the home is near complete. Good luck. Hopefully the builder will get this resolved for you and quickly.

Review your site plan(s) - they should show the proposed driveway location, and the location of survey pins. Does it look like your driveway went in as-planned, or did it deviate somehow? This will help you determine if your contractor is at fault.

Keep in mind though - at the end of the day, all that matters is the location of the survey pins. Your stuff should be on your side, and his on his.

I'd go find the pins, and run a metal tape between the two for a 'rough check' of whether you are encroaching on your neighbor's lawn. (a 300ft surveyors tape is $10 or so at a hardware store). The tape will bend in the wind, so it won't be perfect, but it'll give you an idea of whether you need to call up a real surveyor.

If you are encroaching - you will likely either have to pay compensation, and/or rip up the encroaching area.

As this may become a sore spot for you two in the future, I'd recommend planting trees, putting up fences, etc a good setback distance to allow for growth, future maintenance etc to avoid such disputes.

Good luck.

By any chance is this on the approach directly off the road? Something similar thing happened to us (although ours was not a new build) when we moved in to this house 24 years ago. One neighbor took it upon himself to begin digging under the edge of our driveway, on what he called 'his land' to try and make it collapse. I called our local police just to get him to stop (obviously this man was/is a bit of a nut job!) and once they stopped him they put in a call to our local public works/zoning. And they explained that our driveway approach or apron does indeed cross the property stake but that is intentional - it's city property and THEY determine the turnout radius of a driveway. Could it be the same in your situation?

If your survey markers are still in place it's usually pretty easy to see which side of the line you're on (you can shoot a laser pointer from one to the next, or use a mason's string), if they are not you'll need to get a surveyor out to replace them. What matters is what's happening on the ground, not what the drawing says-- there seem to be frequent small errors in the drawings that can produce big misunderstandings. It's very unlikely that your county or building authority would have had any role in this. Your builder and surveyor need to have gotten it right.

Jaysgrll - when we contracted on the house, we did receive a site 'plat' which I believe maybe the same as a Boundary Survey.
However, the driveway had not yet been poured and that maybe some of the issue so is not on that document. I believe the neighbour is showing me a site plat that he had commissioned but it does not show my driveway on it; but his surveyor did 'paint' a spot on my driveway he believes is the pin.

I do not think the Site Plat/Plan is the same as the Boundary Survey. Though I could be wrong. What I would do is lookup your home address/neighborhood on your state land records site (or even google it), and find the Final Plat that is signed and imprinted with a seal of the Eng/Sur. The information of that Engineering/Survey Firm that completed that development should be on there and I would immediately contact them while you're awaiting info from the builder. As the other posters mentioned, you can go out there and try to locate the pins and/or measure yourself but at the end of the day.....your neighbor is going to want to see proof. You need the exact and true corners of your property lines and location drawings aka site plans are prospective drawings gained by developers to be able to pull permits to build. So if you can get a surveyor out to your home asap to give you an actual Boundary Survey....you'll be able to resolve this now and have that valuable information for anything in the future such as building a fence.

This post was edited by jaysgrl99 on Mon, Nov 10, 14 at 14:50

You should have a survey recorded with the County. Find out exactly where the markers are and have some strings put up, if necessary.

Much better to find out now, rather than later....and remember, this may be your neighbor for a LONG time. I would do my best to put a happy face on this issue :)

We had a dispute with our neighbor after the slab for our new (at the time) garage was poured. They thought it was too close to, or even over, the lot line and called the village to halt construction. Turned out that the neighbor was looking at some random pipe in the ground that he thought was the lot boundary marker. (It's an old neighborhood and sometimes you just find things like this old pipe he found.)

We had a survey done, then he had a survey done. Both showed the line for the real boundary, and that our garage pad was within the limits (with a bit of wiggle room to spare.) We continued with our garage build.

Unfortunately, though we tried for a few years, relations never improved. (He was the kind of guy who called police when raccoons knocked over our garbage can even though I picked it up before 7 a.m., and called police on Christmas Eve because I put lights on a parkway tree. Never smiled or said hello to anyone, even tho it's a very friendly neighborhood. Swore at kids if a basketball went on his driveway... and would keep the ball. That kind of guy. Should be living somewhere with acreage so he doesn't have to interact with other humans.)

He finally moved about a year an a half ago. I'm not saying this to discourage you, but instead to advise that you get an official survey and keep a record of it. If you're in the right, I'd thank him sincerely for showing an interest in the boundaries and maybe bring him some cookies or something... anything to keep relations from getting too chilly.

Thanks all... the builder got back to us and thinks that the driveway maybe over the line and on his property line but gave the following excuses/thoughts.
1) They had discussed it with the county and repoured it over the previous driveway which had been in place for 41 years. Allegedly the county agreed due to the land slope/grade.
2) They believe the Certificate of Occupany would not have been given if the County did not agree.

We are going to reach out to the County tomorrow and the company that did the plat/site plan registered with the county.

All - advice?

In MA, if there has been a driveway in place for 41 years, you own the property. The previous owner took adverse possession by building the driveway after 25 years (in this state). Your state laws may vary in time of possession involved, but I believe there are adverse possession laws in every state.

You may need a lawyer, but my guess is that you own the land if the driveway can be proved to have been originally built on your neighbors land 41 years ago. I do think you need proof that the driveway was there for 41 years. Evidently the county was convinced with their records, if the builder is correct.

The builder may-- or may not- be telling it straight as his actions caused the driveway to be placed as it is. Could be just CYA talk. Do collect all the evidence possible that is in your favor. But be prepared to resolve this peaceably with your neighbor (with apologies) if you do not have a provable case.

I don't believe that the county can unilaterally decide that you have the right to locate your driveway on your neighbor's property. And in order to own property through adverse possession, one would have to have a court decision.

dylanursula:

Pay to have you're own survey done. It'll probably be less than $1,000.00. Mine was $750.00 several years ago. You have no negotiating position without one.

We live on a shared driveway. A new house was built next to me and, despite my warnings, their parking pad and some of their lawn is in the right-of-way. Neither the town nor the county would get involved, telling me that it was a private matter and we should work it out ourselves or sue each other if necessary.

I don't really care, I just thought it would avoid future problems if they paid attention to the clearly marked boundaries. The new neighbors are oblivious as other neighbors run over their grass. Erosion will eventually wear away both their lawn and their parking area!

thanks all... I will see what the survey company that did mine say.

Well, you would do the same thing if you were in his place, wouldn't you? One has to make sure that everyone agrees what goes where otherwise it all goes squirrely at selling time.

However, if I have this right, people are telling you to spend upwards of a thousand dollars to find out boundaries that have already (many times) been found out, and some are saying the neighbor should do the same. And lawyers! This sounds ridiculous.

IF you gradually get the idea that you have really encroached upon your neighbor's land, go to the neighbor and tell him/her so. With a notarized agreement allowing you to do so for a set period of time, the neighbor will not have anything to fear about future losses. With five hundred in cash helping things along, everyone comes out ahead!

Yes. it's a fantasy...

I agree with pixie.

Also, I think it might be cheaper to move your driveway a couple feet than hire lawyers to fight moving the driveway (and perhaps still have to move it). In addition, moving the driveway gives you the best chance to have a friendly relationship with your neighbor, which would be worth something to me.

Given that your builder and the county seem to have made this call without your input, I think you have a good argument for your builder to pay to fix it.

Thanks all.... not arguing about the neighbor asking about the land; however it is clear he wants to be paid rather than work it out. I will pursue both the County and Builder but thinking that offering my neighbour a sum of money to ensure the lines can be drawn maybe cheaper than moving the driveway...

I think letting you pay him instead of making you move the driveway is pretty agreeable of him, and a good way of working it out.

I'm puzzled that you are annoyed with your neighbor for minding that you've encroached on his property.

It really shouldnt be $750. I bet you could get a surveyor to come out and make the boundary line between you and your neighbor(you don't need the other 3+property lines) for les than $250. If the line is disputed now, you are going to need to know where it is in the future. Then you can decide if it is cheaper to pay him for damages or redo the driveway.

Personally, I would fix it and not pay the neighbor but apologize and explain how it happened and be good friends.

You might find the next neighbor is not so easy to deal with or that it hangs you up on the sale of your land.

And hiring the land use attorney is pricey

If you find out the driveway is on your neighbor's property, and you pay him because of that, what does that mean? Is he selling you that piece of the property? Is it treated like an easement? I ask because what happens if he sells - does the new owner have a claim against you too? What happens if you sell - does the neighbor (who you paid) then try to get money from the new owner? It sounds like it could cause issues down the road unless it's all official and on record with the county etc. Moving the driveway a bit might be easier.

As a new real estate attorney, I became familiar with two families fighting over a small strip of driveway, much like you describe. The relationship between the families got really bad (think jackhammers, parking in a way to block the other family's path down the driveway, etc.). The dispute eventually went to litigation, which was expensive.

If you have a survey, it shouldn't cost too much for the surveyor to just update the existing one to add the driveway. I'd start there. If you are encroaching on your neighbor's land, seems like the simplest fix (and one he wants) is to pay him for it, then look to your builder for reimbursement. If you do pay the neighbor, what you're buying is not the land, but the right to encroach on the land. Be sure to get a notarized consent to encroachment from him and have it recorded. If you don't want to hire an attorney, I'd see if the title company that issued your title policy can help you.