I can't take anymore

[Willow]

but I am not sure who to go talk to. Alot has been happening here and I think I have finally reached the point that I can't take anymore.

I can't sleep. My stomach feels like it was run through a meat grinder and I have been crying alot.

Yesterday was like the final straw for me. The neighbors that keep giving us grief (after living next door to us for a whole year) disputed our fence AFTER he watched us put it up for the last year.

He had it surveyed yesterday and not only did the surveyors give him our fence, that we know was NOT on the line or on him (my husbands family has owned this for 20 years and they know where property lines are according to the survey done when they bought it) but they also MOVED his entire property line 6 feet over on us He now has ALL of our baby trees that we have been transplanting a babying over the last year. We are talking like 200 saplings that Ernie has just found in the woods behind our house (that we own) and was to be the start of his tree farm. Not pines, but hardwoods and poplar trees. He got some pines too, but those are rather easy to find to replace.

The surveys REFUSED to show us proof that they were licensed and my attorney said legally they should have notified us and explained what they were doing since they walked to the middle of our property in the back to survey it. They ignored us when we told them you are trespassing and Earnhardt very nearly got out and BIT one of them.

Our attorney said we can get the surveyors for trespassing...especially since we did manage to get out of them that they are subcontracted (I demanded to know when they became licensed surveyors because they looked fresh out of highschool and our neighbor down the road who is taking training to be a survey has 4 more years to go before he gets a license! ) and they should according to Ohio State law had a licensed surveyor on the premises to make sure they did the survey RIGHT...they didn't .......so my attorney says technically we can get them on trespassing charges.

They also placed a call to the sheriff (neighbors did) and said I was down there cussing the surveyors out...I never cussed ONCE. I let them know we had watched the neighbor and his buddy MOVE the survey pin (original pin) and that we took pictures and that I have PROOF of everything because I am not an idiot and I document everything.

Pretty much he is forcing our hand. We now have to get our own surveyor. It is going to cost anywhere from $500 to $1500 to have it done. I told my parents I think they should have to pay for it since according to Ohio state laws, all property must be surveyed before being sold! My step dad refused to talk to me..My mom was totally in agreement with me. She feels terrible about the whole thing because she knows how much blood, sweat, and tears we have put into this place.

Ernie was talking about selling out and moving. I bawled and bawled. I was finally happy here. We worked so hard. IT IS PAID FOR FOR PETE'S SAKE. I am NOT giving up without a fight.

We have a guy coming out to give us an estimate on the survey this evening. We are going out ourselves in a bit to measure our 207 feet because according to my General Warranty deed, which is the best deed a property owner can get, our property should measure 207 in width from the road frontage to the very back of the yard. Length is over 800 feet. They have left us with less than 200 feet because our fence wasn't ON the property line. We purposely stayed off it.

Then the sheriff walked over to the fence with Ernie to ask the neighbor if he would let Ernie move the fence. The jerk said no it is mine now and I have to talk to my attorney to see what my legal rights are... I KNOW what his legal rights are...HE HAS NONE TO THAT FENCE. It is farm fence and MY 2007 Real Estate law book, which was required of me to take to pass real estate, clearly states that FARM fence is exempt from ALL state laws and the one who put the fence up has the invested interest in it because it is to keep animals in. We were in the process off pasturing off the property to get cows in here (eventually) and the neighbor didn't want us to have cows. PLUS he watched us put up the fence and never contested it...which means according to a surveyor we talked to yesterday, it sounds pre-meditated.

OK so now we are going to build a hog pen on that side of the yard...in the direction that the wind blows.


Sorry for the length. I won't be offended if you don't read.

[iloveemmy]

I am so sorry about the grief the neighbor is putting you through. We live on "family" land, too and even though we get along with our neighbors, the property lines have always been a sore subject, especially when my grandparents were alive and lived here. Because we don't have close neighbors is probably the only reason we have managed. The nearest ones are about 1/2 mile away.

My advice: get a lawyer and another licensed and bonded surveyor! Prove one way or another and have it all taken care of! If you were in the wrong, then find out why the land had previously been surveyed as yours. If it is truely not yours, surely then you have recourse with the previous surveyor for damages (ie...moving trees and fences).

Good luck and I hope for the BEST!!!!

[jp4m2]

Wow, Alycia that has to be the worst thing to have to live next door to a neighbor who you don't get along with...the stress of this person is going to put an emotional strain on you guys....first thing is to try and calm down.....take a big breath .... it sounds like your doing things correctly, you have hired your own surveyor... it sucks, but what are you gonna do......there really isn't much you can do at this point until you have that paper in hand ...this person clearly someone that you will have to cross all your t's and dot those i's to protect yourselves....you sound like you have things under control, concerning your rights and you have your attorney.....the trespassing issue may be something that's just not worth the aggravation right now, getting that survey is what you need to focus your energy and emotions on...pick your battles carefully, some issues are just going to cause more aggravation than what their worth, not to mention more attorney fees...try to stay calm and don't do anything in a heated state...Good luck .

[FlDebra]

Look through the paperwork from when you bought the property. Hopefully someone got property title insurance. We recently were very grateful that we had purchased this in a long line of closing items years ago. After the death of a neighbor and his property's sale, a new surveying company was trying to take away about 10-20 feet of our property, which would have included driveway access to our garage! We called the attorney that did the closing and they got right on it, sending a letter letting them know we would be going with our own survey and they would take it to court. This all would cost us nothing as we had the insurance. The other property owner/real estate company immediately called the surveryors back out and miraculously they found their error and the original property line. Don't back down! If your survery shows the property to be yours -- then fight for it. If you did not have the insurance, then you may have to enlist the aid of a property attorney -- but it is worth it to have an expert on your side.

Also -- a metal detector may be useful in finding the original property line markers. The real estate agent had told us the markers were probably gone or covered too deeply. But my husband found them with the metal detector.

[doortego]

I must have missed a previous post because I am sort of confused - the land belonged to your husband's family for 20 years but you bought it from your parents? How did that come about?

I don't think you have any choice but to get an attorney & licensed surveyor to take care of this for you. It either belongs to you or it doesn't. I hope your neighbor is wrong but even if he isn't, you really need to get it straightened out.

Try to just give it to the professionals to handle and not get all upset about it. God bless.

[pepe mint]

oh wow..i'm sorry you are having to deal with this. above all else you are going through. sheesh. when it rains, it pours, right? i do hope your lawyer pursues this as much as possible. let us know what happens...i would be LIVID if I were you. bless your heart. If you need to vent...don't apologize for it just do it that's what your friends are here for.

[LuvMySissy]

Alycia - when it rains, it pours!!! I'm so sorry you are going through all this crap. You know I am here if you need a shoulder......

[omega]

Alycia... so sorry for this mess you're having to live with. You've gotten some good suggestions above... I just want you to know that I'm thinking of you.

I think the part about the hog pen is hilarious! It made me laugh. I would put it as close to his property as is legall!

All those trees - that must have been a heck of a lot of work.

I hope you don't have to move. You've invested so much of yourselves into the land already, it would be a shame to leave now. If the land is already paid for, it would be well worth the attorney fees to sort this out and then it takes that burden off of you cause the attorney will handle everything.

Try and do something relaxing for yourself today.... even if only for a little bit.. something you enjoy, ok? You deserve it!

[JeanieK]

Honey, I know sometimes life does not seen fair, but remember if they are in the wrong, they are the ones who will ultimately have to answer for their deeds.

When things are going rough, stop and count your blessings. sometimes it's it only way to get through such an ordeal.

I hope the new survey finds in your favor, however living next to unhappy neighbors could be worse than losing a few feet of property.

[RoxyJosMom]

About all I can say is your neighbor is a bona-fide IDIOT! Even if the original survey was wrong (which I would doubt-people were more careful back then), he is still being a total moron about it. I'm sorry you have to deal with that kind of stupidity. I hope everything gets ironed out and you send the neighbor running home with his tail between his legs. Look for the title insurance - it's very important.

[Little Bit]

Alycia,

So sorry you are having to go through this! What a royal pain! I certainly hope that your neighbor is wrong and you win out. We're all here rooting for you!!

[Willow]

Thank you everyone for the encouragement. I didn't expect anyone to read and reply to such a long post, but your posts have helped tremendously. Thank you.

I did a lot of phone calling this morning....I don't think my poor phone has had a rest since right after I made this thread.

First I called the surveyor I want to go with. He and his crew will be here on Thursday. I do have a guy coming out tonight to do an estimate, but he said he can't get the survey done this week, and I want it done this week, so we are going with the other crew. They are licensed and bonded. I had described to him how they did their markings yesterday and he said it doesn't sound like they know what they were doing. He also recommended that I call the survey company that they claimed to work for and request a copy of the survey. He followed that up with since it sounds like they didn't know what they were doing, we can sue that survey company.

He isn't just surveying our property...he is going to go off the empty lots next to us like our deed says to do and he is going to measure OURS and the NEIGHBORS. And since I already contacted our attorney and informed them we want to take this to court, I am legally allowed to hold the neighbor responsible for atleast half the survey costs...and I can possibly sue him for attorney fees if the survey comes out in our favor and I can prove he has caused undue hardship on us.

Second, I called the other survey company. There is NOT a survey report being filed! He said they did not do a survey, that they were just marking property lines going off the original survey and that it ran in a straight line. Ok so I popped off at the mouth and said no it isn't going in a straight line and any moron with half a brain can see that!! He insisted it is a straight line...I let it go and informed him well whatever report you have on it MY attorney will want it and I hung up.

Then I talked to my attorney again and told them no survey report was being filed by that company and he told me just get your survey then and contact him when the survey is complete and he will take the steps necessary to take them all to court.

Truly I think the neighbor thought he could bully us into giving in without a fire...uh WRONG.

My step dad has relented some, said he doesn't have the money to pay for the survey right now, but if we could wait until tax season (uh 6 months from now) he would pay for it then. I told him I can't do that because we have 10 days to dispute it and I want the survey done before we leave this weekend.

Again, thank you everyone for being understanding and for the advice. I wish his family had bought insurance, but I don't think they did. I will read the deed tho and see.

[Willow]

I forgot to add that my FIL and hubby are out there right now mowing paths from ALL the property stakes so when our surveyor comes out they can find all the pins and get their straight line. We are trying to make it as easy as we can for the surveyors.

Oh and did I tell you guys that last month the neighbor moved the one survey marker?? He didn't think we were home or that we had seen him, but we did...ran down and took pictures that day (told you I document everything) and filed it with the prosecuting attorneys office...the guy is going to lose his butt!!!

And if the survey does come out in his favor, as long as we get our asking price, I might consider selling and moving but ONLY if all my furkids and livestock can go with us. I would much rather live somewhere else than next to num nuts (as my husband has taken to calling him).

[JeanieK]

Originally Posted by Willow

And if the survey does come out in his favor, as long as we get our asking price, I might consider selling and moving but ONLY if all my furkids and livestock can go with us. I would much rather live somewhere else than next to num nuts (as my husband has taken to calling him).

Good attitude. We always have to remember, we cannot change other people, we can only change how we react to them.

[Willow]

Originally Posted by JeanieK

Good attitude. We always have to remember, we cannot change other people, we can only change how we react to them.

Thank you. Sometimes it is so hard to stay positive on things.