This Week's Q & A

Q: I have owned my home for more than 30 years, but for some of that time, I worked for a federal agency and was assigned positions in various other states. So I did not occupy the property continuously and was not in a position to monitor what my neighbors were doing. When I retired, I returned to my home and discovered that one neighbor had added a paved driveway, a portion of which is on my land. I am concerned about this but I am not sure about the ramifications and I don’t know what, if anything, I should do to solve the problem. What do you advise?

A: Your concern is reasonable. If you ignore the situation for long enough, your neighbor could claim ownership of the land through “adverse possession.” He could assert that claim if he has used part of your land for his driveway continuously for at least 20 years, without objection from you and without your permission. Alternatively, he might be able to assert an “easement by prescription, which would apply if he has been using the driveway for 20 years, not claiming ownership, but claiming the right to use it, and if you did not give him permission to use the land but never challenged his usage either.

Either claim, obviously, would affect your property rights, reducing the value of your property, and possibly impeding your ability to sell it. As a first step, you should verify the property line. If the existing records are unclear or conflict with your neighbors’ records, you should order a current survey. If the records or the new survey confirm that the driveway is on your property, you need to determine how long the driveway has been in place. If you’re under the 20-year mark, you should notify your neighbor immediately and in writing that the driveway is on your property without your permission. You will need that written record of your objection to refute a future adverse possession or easement-by-prescription claim.

Of course, you may want to do more than simply assert your legal claim to the land. You could insist that your neighbor either pay you for the property he is using or remove the portion of the driveway that extends over the line. If your neighbor rejects both suggestions, you may want to consult an attorney about your legal options. You could wait until your neighbor is ready to sell his home, when he will have to negotiate a settlement with you in order to resolve the title problem. But if you sell first, the pressure to resolve the dispute will be on you and your negotiating position, as a result, will be much weaker.