If you take care of an abandoned lot for 6 years, do you have any rights to it?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If you take care of an abandoned lot for 6 years, do you have any rights to it?
I purchased my home 6 years ago. Directly beside my home there was an abandoned lot that was full of household trash. We then cleaned it up taking out over 19 contractor bags full of trash. We have ever since mowed and occupied the lot with our trampoline and such things for the kids. Do I have any legal rights to this property since I have been taking care of it for 6 years?
Asked on September 8, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Ohio
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Under the laws of all states in this country, a person can obtain a prescriptive easement to use another person's property if the use is open, continuous, uninterrupted, exclusive and under claim of right for more than five (5) years. If property taxes are paid in that time period for the used parcel, ownership can result under an adverse possession theory.
From what you have written about the adjacent lot, your cleaning of it, maintenance of it and use for over five (5) years could very well have resulted in property rights for you to use it for what you have been using it for as a prescriptive easement. Since the parcel seems abandoned, you might look up the owner under the tax roll and see if it is for sale.
Good question.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.