Purchasing Property with Garage Encroaching on Neighbor's Land

[Francisco Serrano]

I have a property that I'm looking to buy. It has an encroachment in to the neighbor's raw land. The last owner got a land surveyor to mark the property lines and the contractor and the bank went ahead and  built a new house in 06. Not knowing the property lines where off. The neighbor found out the house was encroaching by google map's and put a law suit on her.

The owner let the house go after 7 year's don't know why. It's own by the bank now.

The corner of the garage  is 3 feet , the driveway is 5 feet and the side gate is 5 feet encroaching in the neighbor's land.

I'm new to investing but this is a great deal and no one is jumping on it because of the encroachment.

My question is if I was to demo all of the encroachment, can the neighbor still go after me for the land surveyor mistake?

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by @Francisco Serrano:

I have a property that I'm looking to buy. It has an encroachment in to the neighbor's raw land. The last owner got a land surveyor to mark the property lines and the contractor and the bank went ahead and  built a new house in 06. Not knowing the property lines where off. The neighbor found out the house was encroaching by google map's and put a law suit on her.

The owner let the house go after 7 year's don't know why. It's own by the bank now.

The corner of the garage  is 3 feet , the driveway is 5 feet and the side gate is 5 feet encroaching in the neighbor's land.

I'm new to investing but this is a great deal and no one is jumping on it because of the encroachment.

My question is if I was to demo all of the encroachment, can the neighbor still go after me for the land surveyor mistake?

Have the property lines been verified... Google Maps isn't going to cut it? The land surveyor who set the property corners in '06 - have they been consulted? Did they stake it out wrong for construction and perform the as-built incorrectly too?  Statues have probably long since expired to make claim on the surveyor's errors and omissions insurance, but worth looking into.  Perhaps they can help with a solution?

What is the neighbor seeking in the lawsuit?  If the bank owns it now, suing the prior owner is probably a waste of their time and money... sounds like they may need to refile and sue bank for whatever it is they want.

Might just want to try talking to the neighbor first - be transparent about your intent and find out what it'll take to make them happy.  If they'd prefer a vacant house over neighbors, well that's insightful... could make for unpleasant living conditions for you (if you're planning on living there) or future occupants.  And if you're planning on flipping, they could make it tough to sell if they make a lot of "noise".  Might be better off just walking away... cheap doesn't always mean good.

At the end of the day, the bank can't sell what they don't own (and may very well have exposed themselves for misrepresentation if they've offered the property with a garage and driveway).   Encourage the bank to settle with the neighbor if necessary - if there's really a valid claim, then they're going to have to deal with it sooner or later - whether directly or indirectly.

Of course, perhaps you could try and leverage the situation... if you can find out what the neighbor will take dollar wise, have the bank deduct that from the selling price (and then some to cover your costs to make it happen).  Naturally, get your attorney involved as you'll want an agreement in place with the neighbor ahead of time.