ENCROACHMENTS
Adjoining owners of real property often find themselves involved with encroachments in the form of fences or
walls and buildings extending over the boundary lines. The party encroaching on a neighbor may be doing so
with legal justification. The person who encroached may have gained title to the strip encroached on by adverse
possession, or may have acquired an easement by prescription or possibly by implication to the land/property
upon which the encroachment has occurred.
On the other hand, the encroachment may be wrongful. If it is, the party encroached upon may sue for damages
and a court may require removal of the encroachment.
Note: If the encroachment is slight (e.g., measurable in inches), the cost of removal great, and the cause an
excusable mistake, a court may deny removal and award dollar damages to the owner of the land/property
subject to the encroachment. In such an event, the local government would require either a boundary line
adjustment or an appropriate variance to establish the minimum “setbacks” required by the applicable zoning
ordinance. The determination whether the encroachment may remain and damages may be paid in lieu of
removal requires exhausting administrative remedies with the local government prior to a court of competent
jurisdiction being able to rule on the matter.