If you and a neighbor have a boundary dispute, it can be frustrating and upsetting. On one hand, you want to make sure you can protect the land that you’ve purchased. On the other, you know that you have to continue to live near the other person, so you may not want to cause too much of a problem.
Laws about boundary disputes in Pennsylvania can be complex depending on the situation. You need to think about how much the dispute affects the value of your property, what kind of evidence you have to support your claim to a specific boundary and other factors that could complicate your case.
Solve your boundary dispute with a structured process
There are several ways that you can solve a boundary dispute, but it’s helpful if you keep in mind the following common steps.
- Recognize the dispute. When your neighbor brings up a problem or you realize one is present, talk about it. Try to figure out if you have documents or paperwork showing your exact property boundary, so you can resolve the dispute with it.
- Talk kindly to your neighbor about your options. If you’ve noticed that they built too close to your property, for example, discuss options. Maybe they can move a structure. Maybe you can add a fence or other boundary line to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
- Consider going to court. If the other person isn’t willing to talk about the dispute and you think that they’re going to continue causing problems, you may want to talk to an attorney about your options. Going to court is one, but you may also be able to use alternative dispute resolution to resolve your case.
Many property disputes can be resolved by hiring someone to do a land survey or by doing a title search to make sure you understand your property lines correctly.
If that doesn’t work, then you may want to discuss the option of going to court and speaking with a judge. The judge can order a survey or review documents to determine where the boundary line falls, so your dispute can come to an end.