Q: If I have maintained a common property that adjoins my private property can I claim ownership?
I live in a private development with an HOA. The HOA owns the property the roads are on, but they put a road in the wrong location in the 1970's and never fixed it. The area the road should have been has been used as the front yard of my privately owned property ever since. I purchased the home and property in 2006 and have maintained the area the road should have been on ever since. Can I claim adverse possession on this additional property, or can the HOA come in and move the road into what is essentially my front yard at their convenience?
A: You might have a claim for adverse possession, or for abandonment. We recently litigated this issue where an undeveloped road ran right to our client's front steps. A neighbor claimed rights to drive on the lawn, and off to court we went. 10 months later, we had a written agreement about ownership and rights to use the existing road, not the road running over the lawn. But this is not an easy area of law. The answer to your question requires that someone review all of the title documents, the record plat for the development, and the relative positions of the parties involved.
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