Of course this structure needs some improvement, such as expanding the porch to make room for the fridge.
Posted on 11/14/2007 10:26:59 PM PST by beaversmom
A judge has ruled in favor of another judge – now retired – in an unusual "adverse possession" land dispute in pricey Boulder, Colo., giving the retired judge a large part of his neighbor's $1 million parcel of land for a pathway to his backyard.
The recent ruling came from James Klein a judge in Colorado's 20th Judicial District covering Boulder, and was in favor of Richard McLean, who retired from the judiciary in Boulder several years ago.
The loser in the case was Boulder resident Don Kirlin, who is publicizing his situation on the landgrabber.org website. He and his wife Susie owned the land in question for more than two decades, and he appeared recently on the radio talk show hosted by Dan Caplis and Craig Silverman on Denver's KHOW radio.
(Story continues below)
The result of the lawsuit was that Klein awarded to McLean ownership of 34 percent of a residential lot valued at an estimated $800,000-$1 million in a Boulder subdivision based on McLean's allegations he and family had, under the state's "adverse possession" law, used the property for their own uses in a "notorious" fashion and without permission of the owners for more than 18 years.
Amy Waddle, a spokeswoman with Colorado's 20th Judicial District, said, "The judges don't comment on pending cases. I believe they are considering appeal."
On the radio show Kirlin explained his shock when the land on which he's paid taxes of about $16,000 a year, plus $65 per month homeowner association dues, on which he's sprayed for weeds and repaired fences, suddenly was made unusable by Klein's decision.
"This is a foundation … of our country," Kirlin, an airline pilot, said. "You should be able to buy property and own it."
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
From the article:
On the radio show Kirlin explained his shock when the land on which he's paid taxes of about $16,000 a year, plus $65 per month homeowner association dues, on which he's sprayed for weeds and repaired fences, suddenly was made unusable by Klein's decision.
How did you come the conclusion that these folks ignored their property?
You learn something new everyday.
Here in Florida, I believe, all one has to do is simply say something like, “It’s O.K. for you to use my property” once every 7 years. The word “my” means “remaining in possession”
We all remember what Ben Cartwright and his boys, Adam, Hoss & Little Joe did when people tried squatting and claiming their Ponderosa property.
Adverse possession is a very real and old legal concept, but you have to prove that the property owner was aware of your usage of the property. If the adverse possessors were driving across the other man’s property, regularly for eighteen years and no one stopped them, that would probably constitute a right of way, not ownership of the property.
If they belonged to and paid dues to a HA you can bet there were rules about the appearance of the property and they were there often enough to maintain it and void any of this adverse possession nonsense.
We have an unusual situation at our ranch. We are in the mountains, completely surrounded by National Forest. We are the only private land owner on our dirt road, but there are some Forest Service Lease Land cabins on the road. Many are owned by the descendants of the people who built the cabins in the 1930’s. These owners are very strange characters, and have a very strange view of their rights in regard to our ranch. Many of the ancestors had worked for the owner of the ranch in the 30’s, seasonally, picking apples. The descendants of these people view our orchard as their birthright, and they should be allowed to come and take apples as they please, and they don’t want to be bothered with asking for permission. I am certain that their ancestors would never have been so brazen as to steal from the owners back then, but these people view my husband and I as newcomers, and nuisances.
I have been appalled by their attitude, and it is especially surprising, because most of the cabin owners go for months or even years without visiting their cabins. When they show up they act like we nitwits need to be put in our places. Then they are gone again.
One of the owners asked me if he could hike a road that crosses our property and then goes into the forest, so that he could visit a beautiful waterfall nearby. I had given him permission, but over the years he has been abusive to other invited guests of ours, and he has sought to have the Forest Service restrict our access to our own property. The final nail in the coffin was when he began bringing his two dogs with him. He doesn’t use a leash, and the dogs are allowed to run free. They are vicious, and match the description of two dogs that attacked and injured a Forestry employee.
We now have horses and goats, and I also will not assume liability for the actions of his dogs, so I asked him not to cross my land anymore. He was outraged, and fought with me about it for quite a while. He told me I was stupid for putting up all my NO TRESPASSING signs, and I should tear them all down. I explained that we have the horses and goats and I can’t risk having his dogs attack my livestock. His dogs have previously entered our property and attacked my dog. I also can’t risk having his dogs attack our customers when we are open for U-Pick.
I explained to him that there is a trail around the property, that was provided by the Forest Service, and that even though it is a longer hike, he can get to the waterfall that way. I guess I really distrust this man because he was so nasty to us even when we allowed him on the property, and I hate to think what he will do now that we have revoked permission for him to enter the property. After reading this article I see that I have two things I must do.
If ever his dogs do go after our livestock, shoot, shovel and shut up. If we find him sneaking onto our property I need to have him arrested for criminal trespass. I also alerted the Forest Service and the local Sheriff about him, and to be on the lookout for nuisance complaints from him.
I truly believe that diligence in knowing who is on the property, and documenting all known trespasses will help to defend against claims. In this case though, the man in question had express permission to be there for the first seven years we owned the place. That nullifies any claim he has that the trespass was open, notorious and hostile. Additionally, I will advertise every year when we are open for U-Pick, and I will send a newsletter to all of the cabin owners on our road telling them the dates we are open, and the cost of the apples, lest they think they are free!
Our annual U-Pick season when we are open to the public will re-start the clock on any claim of open notorious and hostile use of our land, and if this guy shows up, I plan to stand next to him with a big goofy smile on my face and have hubby take our picture, and that would be evidence that he was there with permission.
My friend is isn’t really able to afford an attorney.
You do have an unusual situation. Video is your friend. And instead of quarterly, I’m thinking monthly.
Here is an example of what can happen when you ask those crossing your land to stop.
Someone I know had a nice house and a large lot in a subdivision. Kids were regularly cutting across his backyard to catch the bus and he was allowing them to do this until some older kids started doing things like turning over his grill, throwing pieces of trash onto his lawn, etc. He stood outside one morning and stopped each person about to cut through and politely explained to them why they could no longer use his yard. That night, while he was in bed, someone, probably the offended hoodlums threw several molatave cocktails against the side of his house and burned it to the ground. The owners did manage to get out safely.
Perhaps the lazy sheriff who refused to act would testify that the complaint was made. I personally would file a theft report for stolen grass, but that’s just me.
Own property?
Don't pay your property taxes and see who owns your property. We're just renting our property from the government...it's never completely 'paid off.'
Wow, horrible situation for your friend. It can make one’s life miserable to have people living next door that are a problem. I hope he can get it sorted out and it doesn’t come down to violence.
Oh my goodness—the stories are getting worse and worse.
I didn't. I came to no conclusions at all, because I wasn't at the trial and did not have an opportunity to hear the evidence presented, and particularly because I did not have the opportunity to determine the credibility and demeanor of the witnesses. Therefore, I am only advising that it is never a good idea to express outrage over the outcome of a case without hearing both sides of the story, which the article does not present. That's all.
I was a judge in various courts for fifteen years. I've seen many, many people manufacture evidence and lie through their teeth. I remember one case where the facts as presented by both sides were completely incompatible and absolutely untrustworthy. My decision began, "If there be a ton of evidence in this case, there is, at most, an ounce of truth."
So all I'm saying is, "Be careful." This could indeed be an outrageous result, or it could be absolutely correct. We don't know. We weren't there. Be at least a little skeptical.
I am in Florida also. That sounds about right. We had some discussion of this issue when I worked for a Title company. I can not remember if the seven year rule applied to negative encroachments or adverse possession.
Of course this structure needs some improvement, such as expanding the porch to make room for the fridge.
I bought a lot in Chandler, AZ in 1985. The lot was irregular and I had a hideous house behind me. While laying out the land for my house I came to realize the guy behind built his dump 10’ over the line and was using my land.
I immediately called him on it and he just blew me off. It wasn’t until I told him I had hired a bulldozer to clean my lot that he got in gear. It cost him a bundle to make good.
He eventually snuck out in the middle of the night an disappeared.
He obviously had it in mind to claim my lot by AP and increase the value of his 3/4 acre. Didn’t work.
BTW, for all those who complain about this law, it has been a part of property law since the 1400’s. Property law is probably the most settled area of our laws.
If I were the ones who got shafted this way, I’d use the remaining land I still owned to build a halfway house for pedophiles, or some other odious thing that ruined the value of this land grabbing judge’s property.
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