What are my options for neighbor trespassing, with no help from HOA?
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What are my options for neighbor trespassing, with no help from HOA?
According to my house location survey my neighbor continues to trespass on my
property using it as a recreation area playing football, baseball, soccer on
several occassions hitting the side of my house with balls, the HOA states they
have no record of my property boundary lines which I find hard to believe as an
HOA since every piece of property that is brought or sold has to go through them.
They just don’t want to get involved.
Asked on July 11, 2016 under Real Estate Law, Virginia
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Try calling the police: the police are supposed to respond to trespassing (which is, depending on context, a disorderly persons offense or even a criminal act). Even if the police will not arrest your neighbor, they may speak to him and convince him to stop this. If he won't, you could in theory bring a lawsuit seeking a "declaratory judgment" as to where the boundaries are and a court order that your neighbor stop trespassing, but this could be expensive: you'd likely need an attorney, would certainly need a surveryor to write a report and testify, etc.
If any damage is done to you home, such as by a ball hitting it, you can, of course, sue for the repair costs, including (as appropriate; e.g. minor costs) in small claims court as your own attorney ("pro se").
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