[Labyrinthos]

Thanks for saving me from the task of writing an essay on the law of adverse possession. I can't tell you the number of times that I've had clients complain about my $750 bill for representing them as a buyer in a real estate transaction, because they didn't need a lawyer in Florida when they brought and sold their house there, so why should they have to pay a lawyer to close the deal in NY/NJ/CT. Why? Because a good lawyer would have picked up the potential problem before the transfer of title rather than many years after the fact.

With that said, there is probably more to this story than what was reported in the local newspaper. I suspect that the deeds may have contained reciprical easements regarding use of the lake even if title to the lake remained in the name of the developer. There might also be a subdivison map that provides for reciprical easements or even public use of the lake as a condition for the subdivision approval.

[1rudeboy]

Amen. My parents were about to purchase a 1.5 acre lot north of Chicago (to build), and their agent (I'm not sure if it was an attorney or not) "discovered" a large underground natural gas pipeline running through the center of the property. The Realtor just shrugged his shoulders and said "I didn't know about it." Yeah, right.

I am mystified that so many homeowners in one location neglected to determine the extent of their rights to this land. While painting the fence pink with sparkles (nice touch) would make a decent case under nuisance law, the act of merely building the fence would not. These homeowners were getting something for nothing. Now they're screwed because they didn't do their homework. Sad.

[Boatlawyer]

I would be curious to know what kind of restrictive covenants, if any, run with the lake. Those survive tax sales and I would imagine the lawyer hired by the homeowners will be researching that.

In ignoring the adage, "pigs get fed, but hogs get slaughtered," the lake owner has probably succeeded in buying a truckload of litigation by simply asking too much from the property owners. I am sure there are many attorneys in the Valpriso area who would represent the homeowners for only $5K each!

[NativeNewYorker]

I can't tell you the number of times that I've had clients complain about my $750 bill for representing them as a buyer in a real estate transaction

I *never* complain about all the money I pay my lawyers. It is SO much cheaper to pay $x at the start of a process, than face a $10x unforeseen problem down the road.