On the other side of adverse possession
I have a confusing question regarding adverse possession. I live in an old neighborhood with no homeowners association in place. There is a small parcel of land located within the neighborhood known to the residents as our private park. It was orignally platted in the 1920's as an area "for exclusive use of the residents of (my neighborhood)". It is further described as"hereby dedicated for the use, benefit, and pleasure of the lot owners of subdivision thereon". Several years ago, the county began charging property tax to this parcel, however the owner is known only as an Estate with no living relatives, and therefore the taxes went unpaid for approximately 7 years. I discovered this just before the parcel went up for tax sale, and quickly informed the neighborhood. One neighbor living adjacent to the property stepped up and volunteered to pay the back taxes to protect our rights as property owners. I attempted several times to make contact with him in order to pay my share, but he never returned my calls. Since then (2 years ago) he has requested that the tax bill be sent to him to prevent this from happening in th future. He and several other neighbors have shared the duty of maintaining (mowing) the property for several years, however he has recently began claiming that it has been completely his duty. Now, this person has began to erect a large fence around the parcel, claiming that it is his. I believe he is utilizing adverse possession to do so. Now, I am very concerned because there is no actual "owner" of the parcel who can step up and stop him from proceding. Do I have any legal rights to prevent this from progressing? Does the plat and it's description of the parcel protect my rights to the property in any way? Will his fence have to stand for 7 years (as manadated in the state of Florida) before he can rightfully claim it to be his? Would the fact that myself and my fellow neighbors regularly use the land illustrate that the land is not abandoned or disused?
I appreciate any advice you can give me!
thank you!
I think you are right to be concerned. It does sound as though he is going to try to do an adverse possession.
The action I recommend is to talk to an attorney who specializes in real estate. Maybe you could talk to other neighbors and find an attorney who is a personal friend of one of them and thus willing to work for a discount.
You might also go to the county and see if you can get them to stop assessing the parcel. If you were to do that, it might be possible to cut him off at the pass. How can he do adverse possession on the property when he does not pay the taxes, because there are no taxes assessed.
If possible, having the local government take over the ownership of the parcel would prevent him from doing adverse possession. It is not possible to do adverse possession against a property owned by a governemental entity.
I wish you well ************ Ron Starr ****************