The disputes that come up most
Boundary and survey disagreements, access and right of way, and easements that a neighbor says exist and you say do not. Co-owners who cannot agree whether to sell, often after inheriting a house with several names on the deed. Claims that someone has used part of the land openly for long enough to claim an interest in it. Disagreements with an association or over a restriction written into a deed decades ago. And deals that collapse after contract, where one side wants the sale enforced and the other wants out. These are about ownership, boundaries, and use rather than about damage to a building.
What decides most of them
Documents, and usually older ones than people expect. Bring the deed, any survey you have or can locate, the title report and policy from your purchase, tax bills, and the closing file. Add correspondence with the other owner or the association, and anything showing who has maintained, insured, paid for, or fenced the disputed area over the years. Dated photographs are more useful than recollection, and aerial images going back several years are often available. Where the dispute is about use rather than title, a record of when the use began and whether anyone objected tends to matter more than anything else.
How they get resolved
A good number end by agreement: a recorded boundary line agreement, a written easement, or one co-owner buying out another. Where that is not possible, the path depends on what you are asking for, since an order settling ownership, an order requiring a sale and division of proceeds, and a claim for money each proceed differently. A current survey or another professional assessment is often needed before anything can be filed, and that takes time. Recording requirements and deadlines apply and they differ by state. We will look at whether the outcome you want is one a court can actually give.
